Losing the Game
by Secterscope
Summary: Looking for a way to escape his heckish life of an abusive family and nosey neighbors, will Yugi resort to the ulitimate surrender? What happens when he finally breaks free? Rated T for language and violence. Puzzle, Tender, Bronze, and possible others.
1. Flood of Memories

**Welcome to my second ever story. Rated T for language and violence. You already know what the paring is in the sum.**

**Before reading notes:**

**Miyoko (Me-yo-co) often called Miyo for short.**

**Kyla (K-I-lah)**

**And as the chapter title suggests, these are memories (from a jumping omnipresent point of veiw), and they do get a bit choppy at the end because of emotional stress (that's my story and I'm sticking with it). And this is possibly one of the longest chapters ever to be made by me cause I fused chapter one and two cause they seemed pointless separated. And on the bright side, due to the fusion, this will be the only prologue chapter! (I think/hope/pray/lulz)**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE: Flood of Memories**

The Mutou house was a quiet place, mostly. The small two-story house sat on the corner of Burst and Lilac Avenue, hidden behind an old brown picket fence and a couple overgrown trees. The family had seemed to be normal enough for most; the mother, Ms. Helena Mutou, was a strict and independent woman to the public's eyes; always seen with her long black hair pulled into a bun and working hard to support her kids. Mr. Roderick from down the block will always merrily inform anyone who would ask, that, yes, dear Helena was the ideal mother figure. She worked at an office in the city, doing anything from running errands to actually filling in and discussing the important stuff. She was highly looked upon as a dedicated woman. If only the same could be said for her children.

The oldest of her kids was her first daughter, Miyoko Mutou. Already twenty two, she still lived in her small cramped bedroom on the second floor. "Poor Helena, her life is _wasted_ with that one." "That girl needs to sort out her priorities. Isn't she in college _yet_?" "She'll grow old in that room." Yet no one dared to speak these things in front of the eldest daughter. Her hair was a flaming red, a sure sign of a tremendous temper, and her eyes were and icy violet, which reflected into her cold heart. "You know, I think I saw here hanging around _them _again. You don't think…do you?" "That girl was bred wrong. Oh, _poor _Helena!"

However, the tones shifted when talking about the younger of the two daughters. "Oh, that Kyla Mutou is _such _a smart thing, isn't she? Always dressing appropriately and talking to the right people." "Did you see what she did with her hair today? Oh, so remarkable!" "She should become a model; she's pretty enough and _anyone _would have her if she willed it." It was common knowledge that Kyla's long blond hair was never in the same style two days in a row. The eighteen-year-old was the idol of all at school, and she simply had the most wonderful sea blue eyes. "It's a good thing she's like her mother." The neighbor's decided.

That left the only son of the Mutou's. "That boy is _so_ strange; I saw him at the store today buying children's trading cards. _Surely_ he's too old for such things!" "I'm beginning to think he's metal; he jumped a foot in the air and ran off when I asked for the time." "_What's with that hair? _Surely dear Helena doesn't approve." Yugi Mutou was the youngest of the Mutou's, being sixteen while appearing to be even younger. He never hung out with anyone at school, not even his own senior sister. "My son came home today and told me that he caught the boy loitering in the bathroom. You don't think he was doing _drugs_ or anything like that, do you?"

All in all, The Mutou's were always in a good grace when it came to gossip. Though, it is still just the very thing, and it cannot be trusted. One should always know that gossip is never as it appears.

* * *

He burst into the house, too distraught to kick off his shoes at the door. Barely beings able to see, he tan up the stairs and to the one room he actually loved in the cursed house. He barged in without caring to knock, and flung himself into a pair of open arms he knew would always be waiting for him.

"Shh, Yugi, it's alright." Her comforting voice cooed, her arms pulling him into a tight embrace as he continued to cry. She sat down on the bed, pulling him onto her lap as he sobbed into her shirt, effectively soaking it. "What did they do this time?" she asked, unable to hide the anger she felt for everyone who made Yugi feel like this.

"T-They t-t-took my homework and flushed it, an' t-the teacher wouldn't b-believe me. He gave me d-detention for a week, and then h-he called mom. She's f-furious! She doesn't b-believe be me either! She said that I shouldn't blame my faults on others, and that she's going to have to teach me when she gets home from work." He sniffled, looking up into his sister's cool violet eyes. They were just lighter than his own amethyst gems, and though everyone else said her hues were like ice, he knew that they were more of a calming mint.

Miyoko Mutou let out an unhappy sigh, burying her face into her brother's oddly natural tri-colored hair. Helena's so-called lessons were ones to be feared. "Don't worry Yugi, I won't let her hurt you." She promised, wiping at some of the stray tears on his angelic face. Yugi never stayed crying for long when he was in the arms of his sister. It was the only place where he felt truly safe.

"But…don't you usually go out tonight? It's Friday…" Yugi muttered softly, staring at the lilac walls of his sister's room. Miyoko gave out a small, tired laugh. "Don't you fret about that, you're more important."

The statement caused her brother to blush adorably in embarrassment. "R-Really?"

"Of course! You're my adorable angel-faced baby brother, after all." Miyoko teased, pulling away from him so she could get a clear look at him. "So, why don't you go clean up your face; you won't want Helena to know you've been crying again." Yugi nodded, and quickly left to go do just that.

When the room was empty, the red head sighed and slumped onto her bed. "Two more years…" she sighed to herself, closing her eyes and bringing a pale hand to her forehead. "Only two more years, and we can finally leave this hell hole, Yugi." She smiled softly.

She knew what everyone thought of her being twenty two and still living there, but she had a valid reason. Miyoko refused to leave her brother in the hands of a demonic woman and in the company of a bitch sister. She knew that if she had left, Yugi would probably be…no, she couldn't think about that.

She opened her crystal violet orbs, staring up at the white ceiling. She believed that Yugi could last two more years, until his eighteenth birthday. Then she'd finally pack up and leave, taking him with her. They'd finally be free. "Please…let this torment end soon…"

~ stalking Yugi now :3 ~

Yugi had finished cleaning his face and changing into more comfortable clothes than his school uniform; a pair of blue jeans and a black sleeveless tee shirt. He was currently in his room, which was average looking with wooden paneling and a tan colored carpet. He was in the process of putting away his school things when he heard an unpleasant voice.

"So I heard lied again today. You know, you should really stop doing that Yugi, and accept that you actually have to _work_ in order to making a living in this world."

Her voice was high pitched and grating against his ears, much like his mother's, yet tamer. He didn't even bother to turn around to know that she was leaning against the doorframe to his room, wearing an all-knowing sneer with a glint of evil in her eyes. "Hello, Kyla." He answered, trying to keep his voice calm.

Kyla smirked, her arms crossed as she stared holes into the back of her brother's head. "I wonder what mom's going to do to you _this_ time. Personally, I hope it's the whip again. Or maybe she'll _kill_ you already." She informed, her voice sounding hopeful.

Yugi's blood ran cold, and he turned to face his hated sister. "S-She wouldn't do that, would she?" he squeaked.

Kyla shrugged. "It's not like she hasn't killed someone before." She pointed out, the evil glint in her eye sparkling dangerously. Yugi shuddered, knowing her words were true, even if he had only been six at the time. "Besides, even _you_ have to admit you're pretty damned useless. You can't even defend yourself against those bullies. We've _tried_ to harden you up, Yugi, make you a _strong_ man, but it's obvious that all of mom's lessons have been wasted."

Yugi tried his best to tune her out as his mind went swimming into the past. He missed his dad. Kyoto Mutou had been the only parent to actually love his children. For the years that they had been married, Helena had pulled the wool over his eyes, making him believe that everything was fine. But when he found out what she had been doing…

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Kyla's annoyed voice broke into Yugi's morbid reminiscing.

"Uh…?"

"Hrmph! You're not even good at listening Yugi! You really _are_ a piece of shit." Kyla turned on her heel, maddened beyond words, and marched off to her room, her school uniform's skirt swishing slightly.

Yugi sighed, pulling out the only thing he could lose himself in; his cards. Miyoko had gotten him into it, and he'd been fascinated with the game ever since. "Duel Monsters…" he whispered, almost breathlessly as he scanned through the makings of his deck. He stopped on a certain card and looked at the purple clad man. "You won't let them kill me, will you?" he asked the Dark Magician.

"No one's going to kill you, Yugi. And if he won't protect you, I most certainly will."

Yugi jumped, nearly dropping his deck all over the floor as he turned to see his favorite sister smirking at him. "Miyo! Don't scare me like that!" he replied indignantly. She chuckled and pulled out her own deck from behind her back. "Come on, it's five, so you know what that means." She smiled, plopping onto Yugi's bed and smoothing out the covers in front of them.

"It's game time!" Yugi cheered, shuffling his deck.

"Let's duel!" they smiled in unison.

* * *

Hours later, Yugi sat on the couch, his high spirits quickly plummeting as he waited for his demise. Even the pride of having actually won a few times against his sister couldn't stop him from becoming pessimistic. It was almost eight. It was almost time for Helena to come home.

Miyoko sat on the stairs, watching carefully. She was just out of sight, so her mother wouldn't see her immediately, but she was in the perfect position to pounce should the witch try anything.

Even Kyla was loitering about, hiding out in the kitchen glancing up at the clock periodically.

The silence in the house was beginning to get unbearable. Anything and everything could be heard, even so much as a pin dropping on the floor. So naturally, all three of them were a bit startled by the noise of the turning knob; even though it had been that noise they had been expecting and waiting on from the beginning.

The door swung open, and then closed, revealing the devil; that is, if the devil was female and could take on human form. Helena stood there in her neat black work dress, her pale face hidden beneath layers and layers of applied makeup and her stone cold brown eyes narrowed in disgust. She said nothing at first. She walked around the house, putting away her work things. She even went to her bedroom (the only bedroom on the first floor) to change out of the work dress into looser and more comfortable clothing. Everything seemed to be normal, but all present knew that she was only biding her time.

And soon, she snapped. "You freak of nature runt!" she snarled, standing over her only son with her hands on her curved hips. "You just never learn, do you? Do you enjoy having lessons with me? I'm flattered!" she bent back to laugh, her shrill voice not fitting the evil in her laugh.

"M-mom, I-"

But Yugi's voice was cut off as he was slapped violently across the face. "No more lies!"

"Helena! Don't lay you hands on him!"

The demon woman pivoted quickly to glare daggers at her daughter. "You insolent brat! You have no right to talk to me that way. I am your mother, and you will treat me as such!"

Miyoko calmly stepped forward, putting herself between her brother and Helena. "You may have been the one to give birth to me, but you are in no way _my_ mother." She replied coolly, arms crossed in defiance. "Yugi has done nothing wrong. He did his homework. I helped him with it."

But this only seemed to make Helena more ticked off. "You're not supposed to help the runt with his school work! He needs to do that himself! Who are you to mess with him! You're lucky I even let you remain under this roof!" she barked, eyes hard.

"Miyo…" Yugi muttered, rubbing his face sorely as a hand shaped red-mark formed. "Please, don't get in trouble because of m-"

"I won't hear it Yugi. You're my baby brother, and I won't allow this, _this bitch_ to torment you!"

And that's when all hell broke loose. None of the children had quite known where the gun had come from, but it came. And at first, they were even confused about why there were sudden loud noises engulfing the house.

"_MIYO!!!"_

She crumpled to the floor, biting her bottom lip in attempts to not yell out in pain. She didn't want to give her mother the satisfaction. Yugi slid down to bend over next to her, trying to see if his sister would be alright when sudden pain took over him in the form of a fist pulling him up by his hair.

"Go to your room runt."

He was tossed halfway across the room, ramming hard into the wall. He moaned through his tears, and tried to get back up and return to Miyoko's bleeding form when arms wrapped around him, pulling him away.

"Do as she says, Yugi. Miyo's strong. We can call for help once we get upstairs."

Yugi had never heard Kyla's voice so soft before, but he clung to it. He allowed her to lead him up the stairs and into his room, where she made sure to lock the door behind them.

* * *

"She's late."

His friend always had a knack for pointing out the obvious.

"Should we check up on her? I mean, she knows that tonight was a very important night for us. What are we going to do without-"

"She informed us numerous times that there might be nights were she has to stay home because of family reasons. We already promised not to question it."

"Geez, it must be nice to have a family."

"You have your sister."

"True, but she lives miles of miles away from here. I never get to see her anymore since mom took her."

"But you have a family."

"…You're right…I'm sorry…"

"No need to apologize. It was my choice, after all."

Silence engulfed the two boys as they waited on the end of the street. It was getting dark, and really, they too were going to be late meeting the others.

"So…do we just…go?"

"Five more minutes. That's all we can really spare. If she's not here by then, we'll leave. Besides, she doesn't really need us to escort her; she knows the way and she's more than capable of protecting herself."

The other nodded in agreement, and then the silence returned.

Five….four….three…..two minutes left.

"Well, we should really get go-"

Sudden sirens coming toward them made the two boys jump hide into the bushes they had been standing beside. "What's going on! How did they find us?"

"Shh, I don't think it's us they're after….look!"

Down the street, two police cars and an ambulance pulled up to the corner of Burst and Lilac Ave.

"Hey, wait….isn't that…where….?"

"Let's go!"

The two ran three blocks over to where the vehicles were, making sure to keep an eye on the policemen in case they were recognized. A stretcher came out of the house, carrying-

"Oh goodness, it's her!"

Why did his friend always state the obvious?

"I have eyes you know." He hissed as he watched the stretcher. The medics carried it passed them, and as she was being lifted into the ambulance, crystal violet eyes locked with his. Pain. He saw pain, but he had to overlook it. She wanted to tell him something. So he watched as her hues pointed backwards, looking at her mother, and then back to him. Then again, she looked over toward her family, this time looking at the small shadow of a boy before locking with his eyes again. She mouthed two words; "Help him."

He nodded slowly, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him out of sight.

"New objective, Joey. We're going to be spies tonight." He whispered. "You go back to the others and tell them to meet me at the jail house. Call Ryou. It'd be better if he knew of the incoming guest before she arrives." He paused. "And call Kaiba too. Let him know not to kill me as soon as he sees me."

"But Yami, we're 'wanted' by the police, we can't just go waltzing up to-"

"Fine!" He snapped, rudely cutting off his friend without meaning too. "I'll go alone. Just go back and tell the others what happened. You still need to call Ryou and Kaiba."

The blond sighed, his hazel eyes clouded with worry. "Be safe, Yami."

He watched as the other ran off, back to where they came from. He, however, turned, and was running after the retreating police cars. It was the first time that Miyo had ever wanted help with anything, and he was not about to fail her.

* * *

It was cold. Everything seemed to be cold, and all he could see was blackness. And red. Red, pouring out of…

"Yugi?"

He winced at Kyla's unfamiliar tone, but otherwise ignored it. It's not like it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing at all…

"Please, my little brother didn't do anything wrong, Mr. Yates. I don't know why mom said that he did it, but I'm sure it's just because she didn't see properly. I 'was' standing close to him, after all…I'm just….glad I didn't…" a sob echoed out of her throat as she hugged onto Yugi.

"Miss Mutou, that was a very careless thing you did." Mr. Yates chided, but he seemed content with her pleading guilty. Truth be told, the boy didn't look like he would even touch a gun. While the mother was swearing up and down that her son had done it, her story just didn't fit.

Yugi continued to stand there, oblivious to the world, the image of his bleeding sister drilled into his mind.

* * *

"I see. So it's a favor to Miyoko…fine."

The tall brunette, the son of the police chief, begrudgingly got up from his seat and walked over to a closet, pulling out an officer's uniform and tossing it over to the criminal.

"Thank you, Seto."

He made to leave when the young cop in training stopped him. "Yami."

He didn't bother turning around. He didn't need to. He knew what the Kaiba kid wanted to say, and wasn't at all surprised when the predictable "Never mind", was voiced.

"Don't worry, Set. I know."

* * *

"Please, step this way, miss. We need to speak to you and your mother in private."

Kyla nodded, leaving her brother's side.

Yugi still only just continued to stand there, his whole being numb. What if….what if his sister wasn't strong enough? What happened if…?

He broke. The tears came faster, and his knees buckled. He closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable fall. But it never came. He didn't know who had caught him, but he clung to them. He clung to them with all he had, burying his face into them. He tried to hold back his tears, not wanting to cry in front of the person, but then he felt strong and comforting arms wrap around him. "Shh, go on. Don't try to hold them back; they'll only come out worse later."

Yugi wrapped his arms around them, and did the only thing he could. He cried.

* * *

It hadn't taken him long to find the objective, but when he had, he had been shocked. He…looked like a miniature version of himself, albeit more childish and angelic perhaps, but one couldn't deny a distinct resemblance. Well, if he hadn't hidden most of his hair underneath the officer's cap.

He had a way of stuffing his untidy crimson-tipped hair into the small hat, a feat that even the reluctant Seto Kaiba had to admit to be a miracle, so that only his blonde bangs could be seen as they dropped down to frame his face.

Yami held onto the smaller boy, eventually picking him up and carrying him over to the waiting room and setting them down on a small couch. That was where he cried for the next few hours until he fell asleep.

But there was one thing that Yugi would never forget. Just as he was about to slip into the darkness of sleep, he made himself look up to see who had stayed with him only to be greeted by bright blood-colored eyes.

* * *

**AND THAT'S IT FOR CHAPTER ONE!!! Like I said, it got choppy, but I refused to fix it cause I thought it fit in with the irratic flow of the memories. (again, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, rawr.) **

**The OCs will NOT become main characters, but I can't say that they won't be important to the plot. You will understand why I chose the use of OCs instead of other actual characters as the story goes on (that is, you will if anyone actually reads this, lol)**

**Miyo: Ahh, you forgot to mention the disclaimer.**

**Me: Oh, yeah, right, XD I own NOTHING except maybe the plot and the OCs (or FCs...) used.**


	2. The Last Favor

**Prepare yo-selves for plot thickening. Goodness, I can't even breathe in here 'cause of the plot!**

**Miyo: Yeah, that made no since what-so-ever. **

**Me: Ok, hrmmm....I'mma make Ryou say the disclaimer, since he has a major role in this chappy.**

**Ryou: Sesco owns nothing.**

**Me:...**

**Ryou:...**

**Me:...That's all you're going to say? No threats or anything?**

**Ryou: Well, you do own your OCs, I guess....**

**Me: YOU SADDEN ME WITH YOUR LACK OF THREATS! (oh, and there's an abriged ref. in this chapter too. LOVE YOU LK!! )**

* * *

Two years. Had she really been here that long? All the days seemed to melt together when one was surrounded by white walls. Two years...two freaking long years have passed. That means that…but now, she was in no condition.

"Are you ok, Miyo?"

A soft voice cut into her thoughts, and she looked away from the walls to be greeted by even more white interrupted by soft brown hues.

"Yes, Ryou…I'm fine." She smiled slightly. Ryou was her only connection to the outside world besides her little brother and the television set in her room (which had broken about a month ago, much to her dismay).

Ryou was a timid boy, who has been job shadowing a nurse for a few years now, and since he became eighteen during the last year, the hospital officially dubbed him one of their most highly appreciated nurses. His looks alone was enough to calm a person down; his fluffy waves of snowy hair falling gently past his shoulders and his caring brown eyes so soft, almost like melted chocolate.

"Miyo? Are you sure? Your eyes keep glazing over."

Not to mention his voice had an even more calming accent to it.

"Miyoko!"

She jumped out of her thoughts, cursing slightly when the movement caused pain to throb through her left leg. "Yeah, I'm fine Ryou, I'm just thinking is all. What month is it again?"

"It's the middle of April."

"Oh…" she sighed, sitting up from her bed and reaching over for her crutches. "So, any news for me?" she wondered after pulling them to her.

"Yes, actually. Yugi got into another fight at school today." Ryou frowned, sitting down beside his patient.

"And…?"

"Well…he lost."

Miyoko sighed again. Her little brother had been getting into a lot of fights recently, and the fact troubled her. The boy she had known two years ago hated to fight, so why now…?

"He should be arriving soon, by the way. Do you want me to get you anything?" Ryou asked, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No, no, I'm fine, Ryou, honestly. Though…what are you guys planning to do tonight? It IS Friday, after all." she smiled, the mischief returning to her eyes.

Ryou looked around to make sure they were alone before smiling back at her.

"Same old, same old. You know, I think Joey's gotten better, though. Malik and Marik are troublesome, but Yami manages to keep them in line. Mai was more than happy to let Tea in, too. She'll be performing tonight for the first time ever." He smiled slightly before faulting. "N-Not that she could ever surpass you or anything, you were always the best!"

"Calm down, Ryou. I hope this Tea girl does well." Miyo smiled. "But you didn't say anything about Bakura. What's he up to?"

Ryou blinked, a pink tint on his cheeks. "Well, um….eheh."

Miyoko blinked, a large smile appearing on her face. "Oh, you didn't…Ryou, why didn't you tell me!" she giggled, causing Ryou to blush even more. "Oh come on then, details!"

Ryou scratched the back of his head, his face as red as a tomato. "Well, he asked me to go to the arcade with him is all. I doubt it's anything like tha-"

"Of course it is! I told you that he liked you!" Miyoko beamed. "I mean, sure, he's always been a bit of a cold-hearted jerk with a foul mouth, but he's as fluffy as your hair on the inside."

"He's-you think my hair is fluffy?" Ryou mused, his blushing gradually going back down.

"Yes. Very fluffy. Haven't you noticed?"

"Well, actually-"

"Um, excuse me."

They looked up to see a rather bruised seventeen-year-old Yugi Mutou.

Yugi had grown considerably since two years ago; he now looked to be about twelve instead of eight. Stupid growth hormones, never kicking in at the right time! He was currently sporting a very painful looking blacked eye and there was a sloppy bandage on his right arm, but otherwise looked alright.

"Yugi, why did you fight this time?" Miyoko chided, scooting over to make room for her beloved brother.

Yugi sat down, not looking at her. "They…they were talking about me again. Saying how I was a disgrace to the family. Everyone still thinks that I'm the one who shot you even though Kyla took the blame for it. They were saying how I should just shoot myself and be done with it already, and I just….snapped." he sighed, staring at the floor expressionlessly. "Who are they to judge? They don't know anything about us Miyo. All they see is what Helena shoves in front of their eyes. I'm…I'm sick of this…I'm sick of it!"

"Yugi…" she sighed, wrapping an arm around him.

"Oh….and Helena was talking about you the other day. She said she might pay you a visit on Sunday…" his voice drifted off, and he turned to his sister, worry in his eyes. "You don't think she'll try anything, do you?"

"No. She won't do anything. She can't, no matter how much she would like to." Miyo reassured, remembering clearly the dismay of her mother's face when she had found out that her daughter was going to live. She was probably more upset that she'd have to continue paying for her daughter's hospital fee. Killing her would have made it suspicious to the public.

"True, but then why would she come to visit you?" He asked, leaning into her one-armed hug.

"Who knows. Maybe she wants financial advice, since she's been in a rut lately." Miyo laughed, earning a smile from her little brother.

"Hey Miyo."

"Yeah?"

"It's five."

"Let's duel!" Miyoko beamed, reaching for her deck located on her bedside table. Some things never changed.

* * *

It was late when Yugi finally returned home. She stood by her window watching him leave, leaning heavily on her crutch for support.

"Something troubles you."

Miyoko sighed, turning to face her favorite nurse. "Ryou…how is it that you can read me like an open book? And why are you not gone yet? Don't you have a date with Bakura?"

The white-haired male shrugged. "He knows that I'm in charge of you, and that some days I get off work later than others. Besides, you seem worried, and that in turn worries me." He crossed his arms, walking over to stare out the window next to her.

"How do you know I'm worried?"

"Miyo, you lost all ten times you dueled him. Something is definitely wrong."

"Oh, and my brother couldn't have suddenly become better than me at something?"

"I saw what was in your hand, Miyo. You could have beaten him easily."

"…I see."

Silence fell upon the room. The sky outside was turning dark, the stars not even willing to poke out their heads.

"Ryou, I'm afraid that he's going to do something stupid. You heard him. He's sick of it."

When the male stayed silent, she elaborated.

"He's sick of life, Ryou. He's sick of what keeps happening to him. I can't say that I blame him either, but…" she took a deep breath and exhaled. "I…I know he's going to kill himself if this continues…"

"You can't know that." Ryou interjected; stunned that she would say such a thing.

She smiled sadly, looking at him. "You can't read him like I can, apparently. Can't you see it in his eyes, every time he comes to visit me?"

The nurse fidgeted, looking bashful for a moment. "Well…his eyes…they seem to sparkle when he looks at you. Then they kind of dull out when he gets ready to leave."

"Ah, so you _did_ notice it." She smiled slightly at him. "Have you been able to figure out what it means?"

"Um…well, he loves you. A lot." Ryou muttered, somewhat lamely.

Miyoko chuckled, patting his fluffy head of hair. "That he does. I'm the only thing he loves, besides duel monsters. In fact, I think it has gotten to the point that I'm the only reason that he's still fighting."

"Even so, he'll turn eighteen in two months. He'll be able to leave that house and-"

"He won't leave, Ryou. Don't you see?"

Ryou remained quiet, his soft brown hues looking at her questioningly.

"Yugi will stay in that house as long as I'm here. I can't take him anywhere else because of my condition."

He still remained silent.

"I'm the only reason he's still here. And when I'm gone, he'll feel that he's got nothing else left."

"And because of the off chance you leave, you feel that he'll kill himself?" Ryou replied, raising an eyebrow.

Miyoko chuckled. "Ryou, could you ask Yami one last favor for me?"

"Last, what do you mean by-"

"Can you ask him to help Yugi one more time?"

"Sure, but Miyo, what-"

"Ryou…I'm going to die."

* * *

He walked through the darkened streets, weaving his way toward the darkest and most dangerous part of the forgotten suburbs on the _wrong_ side of city. His mind was clouded in depression so much to the point that he didn't know what had hit him a first. All he knew was that he was suddenly being pinned to the brick wall of the of thrift store behind him.

"Where _have_ you been!? I was worried!"

Ahh, at least he recognized the voice. Brown eyes locked on each other, and Ryou blushed at how close they were.

"S-sorry Bakura. Miyo need-"

"You could have called or _something_ to at least let me know that you were ok. Damn, I was getting ready to slice some throats too!" Bakura hissed, closing his narrowed dark brown eyes and resting his forehead against Ryou's, their similarly white hair becoming one (though Bakura's was way fluffier). "I'm just….what I mean to say is…..well…."

Ryou smiled, the blush still present on his features. "I'm glad to see you safe too, Bakura."

Bakura chuckled, his laugh a bit…well….evil. But it was a good evil!

"Bakura, have you seen Yami tonight?" Ryou asked as his friend unpinned him from the wall. Bakura blinked, intertwining his hand with Ryou's. "He's at the restaurant with everyone else. Why? You're not going to bail out on our little night together are you?" he asked, mock pouting even though he was serious.

"No, I don't want to bail out, but I do need to talk to him. It's about Miyoko. She wants another favor."

Ryou explained the situation to Bakura as the darker of the two led them farther into the night. The buildings here were old and decrepit, almost ready to fall in on themselves at the slightest touch. There was junk spewed out everywhere among the roads, and everything seemed so…uncared for. It was like the city just didn't care, or something.

"That's…_interesting_." Bakura mused.

"I'm glad you think so. I'm still hoping she's wrong."

"Ah, but when has she _ever _been wrong about anything, Ryou?"

Ryou frowned, biting his bottom lip in worry.

"I like it when you do that. It makes you even cuter if possible."

" 'Kura!"

"Hey, no need to resort to physical violence there Ryou." Bakura smirked, rubbing his arm slightly from where Ryou had punched him. When he wanted, Ryou had a good left hook. "Oh, lookie. We're here."

Ryou looked up at one of the few buildings in the area that seemed to be capable of harboring life, and smiled warmly. Inside he could hear the clinking of glasses, the scrapping of wooden chairs against wooden floor, and the sound of someone… "Is that supposed to be _singing_?" he asked as the grating noise threatened to make his ears bleed.

"That's Malik for you." Bakura laughed, pushing the door open.

Light blinded their eyes as Bakura led them into the old fashioned restaurant. Everything that could be wooden _was_ wooden, and there was a counter on the far side of the room the resembled a bar (perhaps cause it was). On the left side of the room was a small platform, and, as Bakura had said, there was the platinum-headed blond on the stage, singing his heart out into the recycled microphone all the words he could remember to STYX's _Come Sail Away_. Below him there was another platinum blond, whose hair seemed scruffier and his eyes a darker shade of lavender, who was watching him with his arms crossed, leaning against the stage with the appearance of actually enjoying the other's singing.

"Aren't you two supposed to be out tonight? I don't have either of you written down for working today."

The two albino-headed boys turned to see the blond who owned the place.

"Hello Mai." Ryou greeted.

"We're looking for the _Pharaoh_." Bakura informed somewhat rudely, but that was normal for him.

Mai blinked, her silver-hazel eyes hardening a bit as she stared at him. "He's busy with making the food ord-hey! Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!"

But she was ignored as Bakura turned for the kitchens, dragging an embarrassed Ryou with him.

* * *

It was a busy night, and he was all on his own. Bakura had run out on him (again), and Marik, well, he hardly ever helped him with the cooking. Joey, bless him, had taken counter duty ever since Duke decided to quit. Ryou was a waiter along with Malik, but he wasn't here either and Malik was too busy singing (if that's what you could call it), so the new girl, Tea, was trying her best to take the orders from everyone.

So it was of course natural to jump when coming face to face with said missing peoples, right?

"Whoa, we spooked the Pharaoh. This is one for the history books. Did that get caught on the camera?" Bakura asked, looking up to see where the security camera was. It was, of course, only for show.

"Bakura, Ryou, what are you two doing _here_?" Yami asked, a hand clutched over his chest and the other flipping hamburger patties.

Bakura looked like he was about to say something inappropriate, but Ryou nudged him. So instead, he growled and stole Yami's work station, taking control of the flipping and other various cooking requirements. "Yami, I need to talk to you….about…about _stuff_."

You ever get that feeling that you just don't want to know what a person is talking about? Yeah, Yami was feeling it right now.

"Um…you sure you should be asking _me_?" he replied, glancing at Bakura awkwardly.

In an instant, Ryou turned beet red. "N-no! Not about t-that kind of stuff! Other things!"

Bakura sniggered. "Dirty mind, Pharaoh, how unlike you."

Yami rolled his eyes, but felt a bit better about the situation. He allowed Ryou to lead him to the back of the kitchen, sitting down on two upside-down buckets.

"Well?"

Ryou twiddled his thumbs a little before sighing resignedly. "Well, It's about Miyoko. She would like one last favor from you."

Yami was quiet, taking in the words the same as Ryou had. "Last?"

"She's under the impression that she's going to die. And should she die, she wants you to do something for her." Ryou frowned, staring at a crack in the floor.

"Hmm…" Yami grimaced. Since when did she become pessimistic? "Well, what is it she wants of me?"

Ryou sighed again, and looked up into Yami's bright crimson eyes.

"She wants you to kill her brother."

"…"

Yami sat on the bucket, his hands folded neatly under his chin, his elbows resting on his knees. He remembered the boy as if it was yesterday. He still clearly remembered the undeniable resemblance, and the boy's shining tear-filled amethyst orbs.

He thought about everything Miyo had told him when she had finally decided to tell them about her family; about their abusive mother who had murdered once and had attempted many times after, about the evil sister, who even to this day refused to tell why she took the blame for the shooting. The neighbors, who were blind and told evil lies about the only two good children of the Mutou family...

They protected each other. They lived off of each other. If one were to die, the other would surely fall. Those amethyst eyes appeared in his memory again, this time, lifeless and dull. The image…wasn't pleasant at all. In fact, his heart clinched up at the thought of it. He could never let him become like that; a walking comatose zombie. He would need someone there for him when she left.

"Yami?"

He had killed people before, but this was going to be a challenge. After all, it was going to be hard to hide those beautiful purple gems from the world. It would be like a game. And he, Yami, was the self-acclaimed king of games. All the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place. Now there was only one thing left to say.

"…I'll do it."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN!!!! So, what do you think is going to happen? I'm just mildly curious.**

**Again, the OCs will fade out of the story as it continues, though, like I said before, they seemed vital to the plot to me. **


	3. You've got Malik!

**Hello there! Welcome to chapter 3 of Losing the Game! Geez, you guys have been lucky that we've not been doing crap at my school, or else these updates would come much-much-much slower. **

**Miyo: That, and this plot seems to just move easily. **

**Me: Yeah, that too. Heh. So anyways, I'mma make Malik do the disclaimer today.**

**Tristan: Why can't I do it!?**

**Me: Cause Malik promised me he'd sing it.**

**Malik:** -takes in a deep breath and begins singing- **Seso owns nothing, not even in her dreams, that's right, even when she dreams of Yu-Gi-Oh, some random guy pops up and points at her dramatically yelling the disclaimer~~~! **

**Me: Hey! **-shifty look- **That was a secret!**

* * *

Yugi walked down the sidewalk toward his house, the darkness not bothering him much as he passed the rows of identical buildings on Lilac Ave. Identical, just like everything else in this world…except…

He stopped under a streetlight, shaking his head. No, why couldn't he forget them? Two, sharp, red as human blood…

He shuddered; slapping his face in a vain attempt to rid himself of the demon eyes he had seen two years ago when he believed his sister was going to leave him forever. At the time, he had believed that it was the reaper whom had come to him, trying to comfort him, only to let him see the he was being comforted by the one who took his sister from him. Damn reapers.

But then, over time, he had decided that it all must have been a dream….a terrible, horrible, dastardly nightmare. After all, no one in the world had blood colored eyes, right?

"Oi, runt!"

"Speaking of blood colored eyes…" he muttered as his heart sunk into his gut. He had been standing there too long. He looked up to see himself surrounded by two rather small boys (though still taller than Yugi, much to his dismay). He recognized them all at once. Both had flames of rage in their eyes, backed up with evil intentions.

"Hello, Rex, Weevil. What are you guys doing out so late?"

WHAM.

Yugi toppled over on the sidewalk, landing hard on his left side.

"You can't talk to us, Mutou! We're way above you! Know your place! What we do is none of your business!" Weevil laughed his nauseating voice only bearable by his friend, Rex.

In truth, the only reason the two misfits were better than Yugi was because they teamed up and started wailing on him, like the rest of the school. Because of this one huge thing in common, the two annoying brats became part of the 'in' crowd.

"Yeah, you should know better than to talk to us by now; just start screaming and crying already, ok?" Rex sneered, cracking his knuckles.

"N-No!"

Even Yugi was surprised by his outburst. But now that he said something, he wasn't going to back down. "You can't beat me up anymore! You two are nothing but wannabes anyway! I don't have to be scared of you!"

Rex and Weevil grinned at each other before launching their attack. Neither of them held back.

* * *

Sunshine blared on his closed eyes, causing him to stir. The first thing he felt was pain; the severe pain of having been mugged the night before. The second thing he noticed was that he was lying in something…soft. Wait, how did he get on a bed?

He shot upwards, pain his only reward. He looked around the room, not recognizing it at all. 'Ok, so I'm not home…but then, where?'

"Yugi, you're finally awake…"

He flinched, recognizing that voice at once. It was one of the many voices the haunted him at his school. "Tristan?"

"Ah, so he remembers me!" The tall brunette smiled. He was straddling the back of a small computer chair that he had pushed up beside the bed so he could keep an eye on his guest.

Yugi frowned, shrinking away from his fellow classmate.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that. I did rescue you, after all. Well, I was a bit late, but I sure the Rex and Weevil won't be bothering you anytime soon." Tristan smirked, a devious glint in his brown eyes.

Yugi remained quiet, unsure of how to react. Tristan must have noticed this, because he smiled faintly. "Yeah, you're probably wondering why I bothered, huh?"

"Yeah…something like that…" The sound of his own voice made him wince. It…It didn't even sound like his anymore. It seemed to act out on its own these days.

Tristan's smile grew wider. "Well, you remember that fight you got into yesterday? About how the guy was talking trash about your sister?" Yugi nodded. "He was really annoying, and it was kinda cool of you to stand up to him like that even if you did get the snot knock outta you."

Yugi simply stared.

"Ok, since you managed to shut that guy up, I'm tossing you a freebie, ok? Just go with it."

Silence.

"Ok, ok, fine. I see you don't believe that either. So…you know Melody Nosaka, right?"

Yugi nodded slightly, the image of the light blue-haired girl coming to mind.

"Rex and Weevil insulted her, and that insults me. So I've declared that any enemy of theirs is a friend of mine!" he smiled, jabbing his thumb into his chest.

"You're…kidding, right?" Yugi muttered, looking over himself to see how badly damaged he was. There were new bruises forming all over, but the only open cut was on his right hand. What confused him the most was the shape of it. "…wait….what?"

"Ah yeah, forgot to mention that I saved your life." Tristan informed merrily. "Rex pulled out a knife and was trying to convince Weevil how popular they'd get if they were to just end your life then and there."

That made his blood run cold. Had everyone already decided his fate for him? Was he going to be murdered? Icy anger laced with fear pumped though his veins. How dare they! How _DARE_ they think they could decide his destiny for him!

"Whoa, Yugi, you ok? You look…pale. I'll go get the first aid kit."

No. No, he wasn't ok. He never would be ok.

* * *

Tristan had been kind enough to walk him home, much to the suspicious Yugi's discontent. He still didn't trust the guy, but he seemed honest enough. Along the five block's walk, the brunette had filled him in on how he was crazy for Melody, and that he would do just about anything for her.

Though Yugi would never admit it, he thought it was nice that a person could do that for another.

"So anyways, I'll see you at school Monday?" Tristan asked as they reached Yugi's house.

The question startled him. At school? Did he mean that he was going to beat the pulp out of him on Monday, or did he mean it like….like friends? Regardless, he knew the answer.

"You kinda have to, since we have homeroom together."

Tristan laughed. "Yeah, I suppose your right." He turned to leave, pausing as he turned around the corner. "Y'know Yugi, they're wrong about you. You're alright…"

Yugi was left standing there, his eyes wide in surprise and disbelief.

**_--does this line break make me look fat?--_**

Ice cold eyes narrowed as he entered the house. "Where _have_ you been?"

Her glare didn't waver as his priceless gems locked with her sub-zero hues. "I was jumped, so I spent the night at…at a friend's house."

She noted the odd tone of his voice, almost as if was unsure of where he had been himself. But…it wasn't a lie. She could tell that much. Her eyes softened, but only just.

"Go to your room Yugi, don't visit Miyoko tonight. I told her that you had spent the night at the hospital because you lost track of time, but you'll have to figure out the exact details. Mom is bound to ask about it later."

Yugi nodded, having learned not to question his sister's random kindness toward him. Besides, whenever he asked about it, she turned into a royal bitch again. He climbed up the stairs and locked himself in his room, going over in his head the fake details he'd have to give to Helena later.

He frowned, sitting by his window so he could look out into the streets below. He had a pretty good view from here, and the best part was the, though he could see the streets below, no one on the streets would be able to see him due to the fence and the trees overgrowing in their yard. Yugi stared mindlessly at the nearest branch. If he wanted too, he could probably climb out onto it. The only issue with that would be his fear of heights.

"Pst."

Yugi blinked, head tilting. Did he just hear something?

"Pst!"

Ok, yeah, he most definitely heard something this time.

"Psst! Down here! Look down here!"

Yugi looked down, straight into the lavender eyes of a rather tanned, platinum-haired teen. "Bout time you noticed me!" he grinned. "You _are _Yugi, right?"

Yugi nodded.

"Good! Guess what!"

Yugi stared, utterly confused, but decided to play along. "What?"

"You've got mail!" He chimed, somewhat annoyingly. He took a look at the large oak tree Yugi had just been staring at before leaping at it, wrapping his arms monkey-like around it and shimmying his way up the trunk. Yugi watched in amazement as the strange boy managed to grab the lowest branch (which was about ten feet up) and swung onto it with ease before climbing up to the branch nearest his window.

"Name's Malik, by the way. And this is for you." The boy, Malik, was sitting right outside his window, fishing around inside his lavender hoodie's pocket. After a moment or two, he pulled out a letter and held it out to Yugi, who recognized the loopy squall on the front anywhere. "M-Miyoko!?"

Malik smiled. "Yeah. She told me to give this to you, but she also said you can't open it until Monday, for some odd reason. She said this had to be delivered today at all costs, but still, you can't open it…she's funny, isn't she?" he chuckled.

Yugi took the letter and stared at it. It was for surely Miyoko's handwriting that labeled the letter-

"To My Beloved Adorable Angel-Faced Baby Brother. She really loves you, huh." Malik smirked at the embarrassed blush spreading on Yugi's cheeks. "Hey, nothing to get all flustered up about. It's nice to _have_ a sister who cares that much for you."

Yugi smiled slightly, knowing it was true, no matter how badly she might embarrass him. He set he letter on his window sill before looking back up at Malik. "How do you know my sister? She's never said anything about you…"

Malik laughed light-heartedly. "Ahh, well I would suspect she was busy spending time with you to even think about me. I first met your sister at the park. I was trying to play a practical joke using fake dog-nasty. I was about thirteen and I had made the poo out of smashed up brownies. So here I was, sitting on the grass eating out of what appears to be a large pile of crap and she comes by. She stares for a moment, smiles, sits down next to me and starts eating some too!"

Yugi couldn't help but laugh with Malik as he told the memory. It did sound like something she would do.

"Since then, we'd bump into each other here and there, and when we did, we always had new practical jokes to try out. Gosh, I miss the old days." He sighed. "It's just not been the same with her in the hospital. I've tried to visit her whenever I could, but I never got to until this morning. And what does she do? She runs me off on a delivery!" he cracked that seemingly ever-present smile.

Yugi couldn't help but smile too. "At least you got to see her for a little bit, then."

"Yeah, and geez, has she changed. Goodness, if that red hair of hers gets any longer, she'd make a decent Rah-pun-zel(1), wouldn't you say?"

Yugi nodded, a faint twinkle in his eyes. He loved the fact that is sister had other friends…he just wondered why she had never told him. Malik seemed to be the same age as he was, so why couldn't they be friends too?

"Well, I gotta jet. I have a job I need to get to and if I'm not there on time, I'll get yelled at…again." He smirked as he started to work his way down the tree.

"W-Wait!"

Malik looked up, confusion in his eyes. "Yeah?"

"T-Thanks…for the letter."

The tanned-teen beamed. "No problem Yugi! See you around! Or not…I dunno! Depends on where life take us, no? Crazy thing, life is. Never know where it's gonna go."

Yugi watched as Malik jumped over the fence (again, somewhat monkey like…that was a six foot fence for Pete's sake!) and ran down the street out of sight, unable to force down the small smile gracing his features.

Did that possibly…make two friends he had now? After all these years of being alone (excluding Miyo, she was family), was he finally making…friends?

"YUGI!"

The smile dissipated immediately. It was time to tell Helena about the bogus details he was supposed to have made up.

* * *

Malik worked his way over to a certain hill on the outskirts of the city. The evening air was rather warm and comforting. His smile was still plastered on his face, though it no long reached his eyes.

There it was, looming over him as the sun touched the ground, setting it on fire. He knelt down, tears forming in his eyes.

"I thought that I might find you here."

Malik ignored the voice still staring at the cold, earth-worn stone jutting out of the dirt.

"I told her she should have sent me, not you. I knew it was going to end with you in tears again…"

Malik felt arms wrap gently around him, the warmth comforting him greatly. "No offense, but you looking like an insane ferocious lunatic, Marik. You would have scared the crap out of him."

"Which would have been funny."

"Perhaps, but it wasn't needed." Malik turned to look up at his friend. "What was the letter about, anyway? How come Yami, Ryou, and Bakura are hiding stuff from us? It's not like them!"

Marik sighed, resting his chin on Malik's shoulder. "I don't know, but I think I have a hunch. I have a bad feeling in my gut saying that something's about to happen…I don't know what, but I want to stop it. I just don't know what it is…this feeling of foreboding doom."

Malik blinked, a few stray tears leaving him as his nodded his head in agreement. "I feel like…I'm supposed to be protecting something…or someone…"

"And that's why they won't tell us anything. We'd more than likely interfere and get caught." Marik informed, rather gravely. "If any of us got caught, it would lead to the eventual capture of us all…"

Malik sighed, leaning on his friend. "I just hope Yami knows what he's doing. I wonder about him sometimes."

Marik laughed. "Don't we all wonder about that pasty-assed Pharaoh? Come on, we should be heading back."

Malik smiled as Marik held his hand and began to drag him away. He looked over his shoulder before waving at the gravestone with his free hand. "Goodbye, Ishizu. I'll visit again soon, ok?"

* * *

He shakily locked the bathroom door, wiping off some of the re-opened wounds. His mother had just finished another lesson with him, and this one had been one of the most painful he had ever experienced (and that alone was saying something).

Yugi sat himself up on the counter, gently placing his right arm into the sink. From all the pain and difficulty with moving it, it was obviously fractured if not broken. He gasped as the cooling water ran over his skin, taking away a little of the pain. After about a minute, he grabbed his hidden fist-aid kit from underneath the sink and got to work.

* * *

**(1) You know, that fairy tell with the princess with long hair. I couldn't figure out how to spell her name, so I had Malik put an emphasis on each sylabel to make up for it, xD**

**Yugi: Do you ENJOY hurting me?**

**Me: No! Of course not! It's only for the sake of the plot, I swear!**

**Yugi: *glares***

**Me: Aww, look at the cute glairng baby panda everyone!**

**Yugi: Not a panda!**

**Me: Anyways, a special thanks to yugixyamiyaoilover for the reveiws. :3 They helped me update faster.**


	4. The Blur of Death

**Sorry it took so long guys. I didn't particulary like this chapter, so I had held it back in an attempt to tamper with it some more. But darn, I could find much to change to it. It's also too short for my liking. And everything happens too fast. So, I decieded to leave it and go ahead and start of the next chapter, but dang, if that one isn't going too fast too.**

**In the end of all my madness, I have decieded to suck it up and update already, even if I'm not happy with the pace. I'll just have to think of some neat side-plots or something. **

**BEFORE READING NOTES: Jibade is of Egyptian Origin, and it means "Related to Royalty".**

**Me: All the chacters were too buist to say the disclaimer, so I'm forced to do it today. I own NOTHING YOU FILTHY HYUMANS!!!!! (I have been watching Invader Zim again, yes. )**

**So, without any farther waiting, I present to you, chapter four!**

* * *

"Did my letter get delivered?"

"Yes, Malik did as you asked. He said that your brother looked like a future prankster, too."

Miyoko laughed at that, closing her minty-purple eyes. "Ryou…please, give it to me now…I…I don't want it to hurt, whatever it is she's going to do to me…please?" she open the hues, giving him the best puppy-dog look she could muster.

Ryou sighed, giving her the numbing medicine. After a few minutes, Miyo started giggling as she poked herself, unable to feel anything at all. "Damn, that stuff works good."

"Miyo…I hope your wrong."

"I do too, Ryou. But like I told my brother…she's coming to ask me about her financial problems."

"What does that have to-" his eyes widened as it clicked. "She's going to finish you so she doesn't have to pay the hospital bill…" he muttered, almost breathless.

Miyoko smiled faintly. "You understand, now…Ryou, you can't tell anyone. Besides, this is the way it's got to be. With me gone, Yugi will finally be set free."

"I…I hope you know what you're doing." Ryou frowned, despair in his eyes.

"Miss, you have a visitor." A passing nurse poked her head into the room.

Ryou paled, and Miyoko's smiled faded. "Go, Ryou. And remember, you must act like you don't know anything…take…take care of my brother now, ok? Will you…be his friend too?"

Ryou looked astonished. "I…I thought I was already his friend." He replied honestly.

"Thank you, Ryou. I'll miss you." She smiled again, holding her arms open to him. Ryou accepted the hug, even though he knew she couldn't feel it. "Take care, Ryou…"

Ryou sniffled a little. "Y-You too, Miyo…"

"Go now, and send her in. I'm ready."

Ryou nodded, trying to restrain from shaking as he left the room with one finally glance at his patient.

As he vacated the room, _she _walked in. Her long black hair tied into its everyday bun, makeup perfecting her features, her lips pulled into a genuinely warm smile. She sat down on a chair beside the bed, smoothing out her black work dress before her hard-as-stone brown eyes met with Miyoko's lilac.

"See you're still not better." She sighed before looking around to make sure they were alone. "That's just too bad for you." Her tone had gone from informal to malicious and her warm smile into a deadly sneer in only a moment's notice.

"It's nice to see you too, Helena." Miyoko replied calmly.

"Insolent brat. You never did learn to hold your tongue."

"As you never did learn how to become a real mother."

"You bitch!" Helena raised her hand and as if to smack her child, but thought better of it. It would be best to not leave any evidence behind. "I'll be glad to be rid of you."

Miyoko sighed, keeping her gaze calm. "So, I guess you really did come here to ask for help about your financial aid problems."

Helena blinked before smirking, the evil essence of her being appearing on her face. "So you knew. This just got more fun." She pulled out a syringe and showed it to her daughter, swishing the acid green contents happily. "See this? A friend made it for me. This stuff here will kill you slowly and painfully. But the best part is that you can't trace it. No one will know what killed you."

Miyoko looked at the liquid, knowing it would indeed be her death. Helena cracked an insane smile, jabbing the end of the needle deep into Miyo's arm and injecting the girl before she had any time to react.

Then, the unexpected happened. Miyoko started seizing, the apparent poison reacting badly with the pain-killers Ryou had given her. What stunned Helena the most, however, was that Miyo was laughing.

"So you think you've won because you've taken me? Ha! Good one. I never knew you had a since of humor." She chuckled, her body still twitching uncontrollably. "I did know, so I asked for my daily pain relievers early. You lost, Helena. You lost your stupid little game with me, and there's no going back to try again!"

Helena's shock turned into a glare of absolute hate. "It matters not, your still going to die. Even if it's not slowly and painfully like I had intended, you are the one who lost."

Miyoko smiled. "Death…I used to be scared of it…then I realized that-" she gagged on her words, he eyes glazing over, her body still twitching uncontrollably.

The mother stood and adjusted her face before running out of the room, screaming for help because of her daughter's seizer. Doctors and nurses ran into the room, and shouting echoed down the halls.

A kind nurse led the sobbing woman to the waiting room, patting her back comfortingly. "Don't worry, we're going to save her." His voice shook, as he left to join the others.

As soon as she was alone, Helena's sobs turned into soft maniac laughter. What a foolish thing to tell a woman who already knew her daughter was dead.

* * *

They had spent all of the remaining Sunday trying to save her, but in the end, there was nothing they could do. So by Monday morning, news spread of Miyoko's death like wildfire. When he had heard the news, he had run out of his class and ran all the way to the hospital. The whole trip seemed like a blur.

Everything inside the white-walled hospital seemed to have turned dark as the seventeen-year-old dashed down the halls, skidding into the room to see for himself.

There she was; pale and unmoving, face expressionless, eyes closed. He shakily walked over to her, touching her hand lightly only to feel how _cold _she was.

He felt his innards churn uncomfortably as he quickly withdrew his hand in favor of wrapping his arms around himself. His head started to spin, and he might have even collapsed in shock had someone not been there to catch him.

They held him close to them, and petted on his hair and rocked him back in forth, trying to comfort him as best as they could. It was useless though. His whole body felt alien to him. It felt cold, cold just like his sister. He couldn't even feel himself shaking, nor the tears water-falling out of his unblinking eyes as he stared at her.

"Yugi?"

Even his name sounded foreign. Was it even his name?

"Yugi, please talk to me…"

He could hear the voice, but nothing made sense anymore.

"Oh my gosh…Yugi!"

Everything became a blur of colors, though he couldn't even tell what colors they were. The voices were everywhere, saying things he couldn't understand. He knew he was being moved, but he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't feel anything but the deathly cold grip that seemed to be squeezing all air out of his chest as it slowly but surely spread to his heart.

* * *

"How's he doing?"

"I…I don't know…he went into shock and passed out as soon as we got him in here. Seeing her like that was just too much for him…"

"Don't worry…he's strong…he'll…he'll wake up soon."

The two boys looked over at the blond-headed sister. "What make you so sure, Kyla?"

Kyla fidgeted in her chair, not replying. Her pale face had dried tear streaks stain on it, and ice-blue eyes were hidden mostly behind her bangs.

"She's right…he'll pull through. He 'is' Miyo's little brother, after all."

"Come now, that's hardly fair to say with Kyla here. He's her brother too, you know." The nurse tapped his foot, annoyed at the rudeness.

"Which will only increase his chances of waking up, Ryou."

Ryou sighed, looking at the 'other patient inhabiting the room' disapprovingly. "Seriously Jibade, you can be so rude."

The tall boy looked in Ryou's general direction, unable to see him because of the bandages wrapped around his eyes. His hair was hidden underneath a blue-jean punk cap, the only hair visible being blond bangs that messily stuck out from underneath the said headwear.

"I do believe you would be rude too if you found yourself going blind and then having a surgery to fix it and then said surgery goes terribly wrong." Jibade replied, his deep voice bitter.

Ryou and Jibade continued to bicker, completely ignoring Kyla. She was ok with it though. She stood beside her brother's bed, holding his hand tightly in hers. "I never thought…she would go this far…" she whispered to herself, fresh tears forming in her eyes.

Kyla, now age twenty, had grown up considerably since the last two years. She had finally decided to stay with one particular hairstyle (a ribbon holding her long hair into a low ponytail) and she had acquired silver framed glasses due to near-sightedness. "Yugi…what are you going to do…?" she murmured, knowing the other two in the room wouldn't hear her. "I'm not home enough these days to be with you because of college…and now…" More tears slid down her cheeks. "I can't be there for you, so what will you do?"

* * *

It was late when Kyla finally left her brother's side to converse with her mother about funeral arrangements. Ryou sighed, walking over to Yugi's bed and putting a hand on his forehead. "You don't think he'll get PTSD, do you?"

Jibade frowned, raising his hands up to his face and pushing the bandages around his eyes upward, so now they secured his forehead. "I don't think so…after all, he did manage well since she was shot." He replied, crimson eyes looking over the younger boy.

Ryou looked around to make sure they were alone. "Why do you keep changing your name when you wear a disguise? It's so confusing! I nearly called you by the wrong name too many times to count, Yami."

Jibade, aka, Yami, laughed lightly. "It would be easy to track me if I used the same name too many times, Ryou. Unlike you, I don't have a steady dis-"

"It's not a disguise, it's who I am. There's a difference."

"Hrmm…if you say so…"

"What do you think happened to his arm? I put a _real _cast on to help it heal."

"Ryou, I have a feeling that we both already know what happened."

Yami sighed, looking over at Yugi. "He's grown since I've seen him."

"Well, did you expect for him to stay the same?"

"…No. I suppose not."

The two quieted. After a few hours, Yami, or 'Jibade' got up and left. No one noticed him leave. No one ever did. Ryou sat beside the window in the room, slowly dozing off. The clock on the wall seemed to tick louder as the light in the room slowly dimmed.

Tick….tick….tick….

It was this sound that penetrated his skull and forced him out of the comforting darkness. His eyes fluttered open, though there were no longer any sign of life behind those amethyst gems. They were dark and glazed over, showing no sign or having lived at all.

He pushed himself off the bed, looking at the newly acquired cast briefly before standing up and walking out of the room, his mind numb. He was only moving by instinct now, as his mind had been lost within all the internal turmoil. His instinct only told him one thing, which he obeyed without question. After all, there was nothing to question anymore.

He had to get home.

So off he went, dazed in a zombified stupor, everything around him meaningless.

* * *

The door slowly closed behind him and he made his way upstairs to his room, not noticing the two people watching him from the living room.

"Mom…why?" Kyla's voice seemed strange to her as she watched only brother slump up the stairs.

"Because, Kyla-dear, it had to be done." Helena replied coolly, sipping at a cup of tea.

"O….Ok…" Kyla sighed, turning away from Yugi as he disappeared from her sight. "May…May I spend the night at a friend's house? Or maybe a few? I…I promised him I'd tutor before….before this happened…"

"Of course, Kyla-dear."

* * *

**And that's the end of chapter four! Crappy, I know! -sadface- But hey, now the actually plot that you guys care about is being kicked into motion.**

**Miyo: You killed me! You freaking killed me! **

**Me: Yes. Yes I did. But I'll still let you do the disclaimed from time to time.**

**So, chapter five might be a little late too. I'm traveling this weekend and stuffs, so don't expect another update until possibly...after Wensday next week cause I have a major school assignment that is due on Wensday and stuffs. Speaking of assignments, I'm suppossed to be typing out my personal narrative! -runs off-**


	5. The End?

The next week passed in a never ending blur. The funeral had been held on Thursday. Everyone who was anyone attended to mourn the loss of a Mutou. All the neighbors were won over by _poor_ Helena's act. Had he still have a mind, it would have sickened him. Now, however, nothing mattered. Nothing…

"Yugi…"

He turned at the familiar voice to be greeted by a teary eyed Malik, who immediately threw himself at him and started bawling, sufficiently soaking Yugi's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Yugi, I didn't know! I fucking jinxed you, I'm so sorry!" he cried, clinging to the smaller boy.

They had stayed together for the rest of the funeral. Ryou was there with him too. The nurse sat next to him and Malik, crying steadily but silently. Yugi watched as the world moved around him in what felt like…it was impossible to describe. Time was both moving too fast and yet too slow. Time was suffocating him.

That night was the worst. He was unable to sleep again, but this time, the tears had returned.

Friday came and went. He had stayed in his room all day, only leaving to use the bathroom, but even that was rare. Saturday morning, Kyla came back. She tried to talk to him, but it failed. In the end, she left something on his nightstand after nagging him to eat something.

He didn't see what it was she left until that night. It was _her_ cards.

"M…Miyo…ko…" he spoke for the first time in days, his voice scratchy from the lack of use. He picked up the deck, looking through the familiar cards, each one bringing back fond memories.

Luster Dragon…she loved this card.

"_Miyo, why do you have three of these in your deck?" a ten-year-old Yugi asked, looking at the rather ugly looking sapphire dragon. "Is it because it's a strong monster?"_

_Miyoko laughed, turning to look at the card he held. "Indeed he is powerful, but Yugi, he's also beautiful."_

"_Um…are we looking at the same card?"_

_She only laughed more. "Yugi, nothing on the outside matters, really. Sure, it may help to have good looks and stuff, but ugly things can be beautiful too." _

"_Um…Miyo, that makes no sense."_

"_Hrmm…what's your favorite card, Yugi?"_

"_Mine? That's easy! The Dark Magician, of course!" he smiled widely._

"_Hrmm. Well, Dark Magician suddenly got into a tragic car incident and is not missing his nose. Do you still like him?"_

_Yugi made a face, obviously picturing the gruesome and somewhat terrifying thought. "Yeah, course I do. He's…he's…" he failed to find the right words to describe it._

"_He's important to you." His sister pointed out, searching through his deck and pulling out his card, laying it beside her Luster Dragon. "Beauty, Value, Importance…all these things are not laying on the surface. You have to dig for them to find them, almost like you're mining for sapphires."_

"_And Luster Dragon is made out of sapphire."_

"_Yup! So, I guess you can say I found it, huh?" she giggled. _

_Yugi pouted, and then pointed at her three copies of Luster Dragon #2s. "I still think you just like the cards."_

"_I never said that I didn't like their cards…" Miyo smiled, ruffling his hair. "…Just that I see more than just a card."_

When he flipped through the last one, he held the deck tightly to his chest. He became self conscious of his own heartbeat for the first time in ages. And it hurt.

"That's it, isn't Miyo…your cards mean so much to me, but still…they're just cards…"

He set the deck down and looked around his room, unable to breathe again. Something was constricting his chest, slowly incasing his heart. It didn't take him long to realize that the 'thing' was reality itself.

He got up from his bed and walked around; trying to calm his racing heartbeat and relive the tightness in his heart. But the longer he walked, the more he came aware of how _alive _he was, and it was a feeling he had almost forgotten about during the past week.

That's when the idea hit him. The more alive he was, the more dead his sister, so…

"What if….I too was…..then we'd be together again…"

The thought of being reunited with his sister elated him. In fact, he felt almost….happy. But that's when he noticed it. He had just barely caught sight of the loopy squall out of the corner of his eye. He recognized it and rushed over to it. How could he have forgotten this?

Lying on the window sill was a letter labeled "To My Beloved Adorable Angel-Faced Baby Brother."

He picked it up, vaguely remembering that he was supposed to have opened it on Monday, but…

Something in the back of his mind clicked. Had she known? Had she known she was going to leave him? Anger coursed through his veins, the raw emotion strange to him after the days of nothingness. He ripped the letter open and pulled out the small paper inside. Maybe it had the answers he wanted.

_Dear Yugi._

_When the time comes that you find yourself losing the game, don't fret about it. Just press the restart button, and I promise everything will be alright._

_I love you,_

_Miyoko._

What the…? Yugi growled, something that felt odd to him. "And just what the bloody fuck is that supposed to mean!"**(1)**

Yugi was tempted to shred the letter into pieces, but the love of his sister's handwriting kept him from doing so. He plopped back down on his bed, frustrated tears swarming his eyes. "I…just don't know what to do anymore…..I can't live like this…I…I just can't!"

He looked around his room, unsure of what he was looking for. But he just had to find it, whatever it was. He started tearing things apart in his desperate search for the unknown, the tears constantly splattering down his face.

A glint of shining silver caught his eye.

He turned toward the window sill; almost not believing what he was seeing. It was an expensive looking knife; its blade was shining sharp-looking silver. The dagger's hilt seemed to be made out of a type of bone, and on the end was an opaque blood-red gem.

Yugi reached for it, awestruck at the weapon's sudden appearance. He took it into his hands, wary of the blade as he looked out his window to see if anyone was nearby that might have left it.

'Strange though, as they'd have to climb a tree just to get to my window…'

That's when he examined the dagger more closely, and truly noticed its significance. On the bone was carved a simple seven letter word.

**"RESTART"**

Yugi looked at the blade, his mind completely fogging up. He'd found his restart button. He pressed his thumb down on the hilt of the blade, and found that the decorative gem was indeed fitted like a button. He almost smiled at the soft 'click' noise it made.

"Well, it's now or never…" he muttered to himself, repositioning the blade into his left hand (because his right arm was still broken and it'd be kind of hard to do it with a cast on). He then debated on how he should do it. Which was best? Having no real idea, he decided for his throat. At least then it might be harder for him to scream from the pain.

He closed his eyes, and then quickly brought the knife toward him.

Pain. Pain erupted in his head, making him dizzy. He felt himself fall to his knees, his left hand reaching out blindly to keep him from falling flat on his face.

"You…failed the test."

Yugi groaned, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his throbbing head. "Was hitting the back of my head really necessary?" he whined, looking sideways to see the shadow of the person behind him.

"Yes. Yes it was. And now that you failed the test, you'll be given a new one. Let's just hope you can pass it this time."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yugi asked, trying to turn around and see who it was behind them, but they moved out of his vision.

"You'll understand everything soon, Yugi Mutou. But right now, there's only one thing you need to know."

Yugi was forcibly spun around to stare into blood red eyes; the same haunting blood red eyes from his memory.

_"You're dead."_

**(1) In an alternate chapter -I rewote this three times- I had Yami make his appearance here, and I still find it a bit amusing. Here's a cut of it for those interested. If not, just continue to scroll down to the next bold letters. Or exit, as this chapter is pretty much done. Your choice, xD**

* * *

"Whoa there. I didn't know you were even_ capable_ of swearing."

"Who's there!" Yugi jumped, spinning around and looking for the voice.

"Hrmmm…I am here. That's really all you need to know."

"Great, now I'm hearing voices…" Yugi sighed, sitting down on his bed and hiding his face in his hands after depositing the letter on the bedside table.

"If that's what you want to believe."

Yugi shook his head and rolled over onto his stomach. When the silence threatened to dominate the room, he spoke up again.

"So, Mr. Voice…are you supposed to be the smart me talking? Or a bad me I should just ignore?"

The deep baritone voice chuckled, a noise that made Yugi's heart leap. Did he…_like_ that sound?

"Well, you pose a very interesting question to yourself. If I were smart, then I wouldn't hold anything back in saying so. But to ask if I were a bad voice, well, I'm sure that even the bad voices are smart enough to say that they themselves are a smart voice."

"Hrmm…I see."

__

_

* * *

_

__

**I'M ALIVE!**

**Miyo: I'm not!**

**Sesco: Sorry about the delay...I...I got carried away with real life stuffs. But now I'm out of high school AND I'm a year older...strange, eh?**

**Miyo: Disclaimer be mine! *hisses* **

**Sesco: Oh, right. For suspense reasons, I decided to put the disclaimer at the bottom of this particular chapter. **

**Miyo: Ahem. Sesco owns NOTHING! except perhaps Me, Kyla, and the oh so evil Helena.**

**Sesco: The next chapter might clear a few things up. Or not. No promises, xD Even my own story confuses me a bit, lol! Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this very very very late and typed at midnight chapter! Hopefully the next chapter will comeout quicker...and longer...but again no promises. Dx**


	6. What Happens at Night

**WOOOT! I'm on a roll!**

**Miyo: ...**

**Sesco: What?**

**Miyo: I think Yami should do it today.**

**Yami: ...**

**Sesco: Yeah. "..." means that I don't own nuthin'.**

**Miyo: You do realize you used a double negative which turn your statement into a positive.**

**Sesco:...Oh snap! *runs and hides* Wait. But I do own You, Kyla and Helena. So technically, it's how you take the statement. I don't own nothing, but I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Get it?**

**Miyo:...I feel like I've just been owned.**

* * *

Yami smirked at the look of fear and confusion in those beautiful amethyst gems. It was a sign of emotion, a sign of life within the boy. There was hope. In an instant, he expertly twirled the dagger around in his hand so that he now held the silver part. WHACK. He had knelled down and smacked the hilt hard against Yugi's head, then caught the boy as he fell unconscious. Yugi draped over his upraised knee like…well, drapes I guess.

"Now for the hard part..." Yami smiled. He cast his crimson gaze around the room. "Seems like he tore the place up in his search for stability." He commented.

"Bzzt, Yami, are you talking to yourself or me?" a small muffled voice buzzed from somewhere in his black jacket. Yami paused and fished out the communicator from one of his pockets and stuck it in his ear.

"I was talking." Yami replied simply, not answering the question.

"How's everything going?" the voice was now so clear it was like the speaker was standing right next to him.

"He failed the test. Now all I've got to do is kill him."

"That's great! Wait….I mean bad...er…uh…?"

"In this case, I think it's a good thing." Yami sighed, briefly glancing down at Yugi's right arm. The cast stuck out like a sore eye.

"Have fun figuring that one out Yams. I did manage to get in contact with Kaiba though. He said he make it to the scene to clean up any tracks you might leave."

Yami blinked in surprise. "He's willing to help this time? What's the special occasion?"

"He said that he knew about the bitch's handy work, but was never able to convince his dad. Never had enough real evidence, I guess."

Yami spun the dagger in his hand again, this time ending with the hilt fitting firmly in his hand. "Did he mention any preferred methods?"

"…he said that the bloodier, the better."

"Ok…so be it. Is Ryou ready?"

"Yeah. He's not happy about Kaiba's choice, but he's ready. He said he'd pummel you to death if you hurt him too much, though.

Yami laughed at the idea of gentle Ryou attempting to beat him up, then stopped as he remembered something. "He does have a good left hook, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he nearly knocked me out with that one."

Yami chuckled quietly. " I'll check in with you later Joey. Keep me updated if anything new happens."

"Will do. Be careful Yams." The soft click of the other getting off his side of the communication device could be heard.

"Bloody, huh. Doesn't sound like Seto wants to take any chance with this one." Yami shifted his position and got to work.

* * *

Kyla fumbled for the keys in her purse that would unlock the door to the house, tossing it over her shoulder once she dug them out. She never thought of it as home anymore. She glanced at her watch before turning the doorknob and entering the dark living room. Helena was working on a late night, and she wouldn't be home for another two hours.

She walked in and flicked the lights on out of habit with her left hand before turning and locking the door back behind her. Her right hand, carrying her keys and a bag from a fast food joint, twitched. She frowned and switched the load to her left. "Curse her and her abusive ways…" she mumbled, watching her right hand twitch again, its fingers curling up slightly.

Kyla had known the nerves in her hand had been damaged for some time as she could hardly feel with that hand anymore. Only recently had it decided to start twitching. "All because of her damned punishments." She hissed, her pale blue eyes icing over for a moment.

Sure, Kyla would admit she wasn't the best of all people. She kissed up to the authority figures and wormed her way into the public's good eye, so much so she had long ago decided to keep that persona, but even she recognized a true demon when she saw one.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then focused on making her pale blue eyes turn into the all familiar ice cold hues most people were used to. Kyla flung her keys on the living room's coffee table before marching up the stairs, bag in hand. She stopped by his door.

"Yugi, open up!" she demanded her voice harsh. When no one answered, she tried again. "Yugi, open this damn door!"

She heard movement. She waited, but still, her brother didn't open the door.

"Yugi, I'll give you a count to three before I kick this door open! One…" Nothing. "Two…" Not a sound. "Three!"

She kicked the door as hard as she could with her right foot. "I swear Yugi, you are going to eat something even if I have to shove it down your throa-"

Kyla stopped, her eyes forgetting their hardness in favor of widening in horror.

The room, his room, was wrecked. It couldn't even be recognized as a room. And there was blood. Everywhere. A struggle? But the blood…there was too much of it. Murder?

She didn't even realize she had dropped the bag containing the food meant for him. She felt weak, all will to stand on her own vanishing. She crumpled, still staring unblinkingly at the room. "Yu…gi…"She didn't even notice her eyes watering or her heart thumping erratically. She didn't even hear herself scream.

* * *

He hung up the phone before turning to his son. "Get ready boy, we've got a big one on our hands." The man said grimly.

Seto Kaiba looked up at his father's tense expression. "What happened?" he asked as he sifted through files on his desk. He had been given a desk to work at so the chief wouldn't have to share. Not that he minded; he'd brag to anyone who would listen how proud he was of his son's interest in the law enforcement.

"There's been a break in, and maybe even a murder at the Mutou house. I'll call Helena and get the guys ready. We leave in one minute, so hurry up!" the chief practically ran out of the room.

Seto watched his father leave before picking up his cell phone and dialing an all too familiar number. It only ringed once.

"Hello?"

"We're coming."

"Ok."

Seto shut the phone before grabbing his briefcase and leaving the office.

* * *

"Yami, where are you?"

It was a valid question. He had run as fast as he could away from the scene, carrying Yugi on his back.

"I….think I'm at Honaker Boulevard." He replied after looking around.

"You need to get farther away than that Yams, they're-"

"On their way, I know. I had to leave early because Kyla came home."

"That explains why the call came earlier than expected." Joey sighed from the other side.

Sirens. Yami dived for some bushes.

"Yami…how long will it take you to get back here?"

Yami frowned as he watched the police cars pass. For a split second, his crimson eyes locked with a deep blue. "I won't be too long."

* * *

He paced back and forth, worry eating him up. He paused to look around the room. Everything was was wooden, for one, except for the necessities and the beds. There were no windows, but there was a board one could push aside to access the roof. There was a small ladder leaning against one of the walls so pushing aside the board would be possible.

He gazed absentmindedly at the sheer number of beds in the room. Six of them, granted that one was a bunk bed. Do bunk beds still count as two beds? Two single beds to the opposite walls, and the bunk bed was pushed to the farthest wall. The other wall was where the table was for eating, and then held the door that led to the bathroom.

"Who in their bloody right minds thought that six of us could share one toilet?" he asked himself for the billionth time.

"Perhaps someone who thought that _'Hey, since I let you live here, you should be grateful for what you've got!'_"

He jumped and turned to look at the floor, for there was located a trapdoor; the only way to get in and out of the secret room. Bakura's head was visible from the entrance.

"That was the_ worst _Mai impression you've ever done." Ryou commented as he sat back down on his bed, which was covered with bundles of medical supplies.

"That hurt." Bakura rolled his eyes as he climbed all the way into the room, closing the trap door behind him. "That hurt so much I just might pull my hair out and spend the rest of my life bald because of the hurt."

"Why are you here?" The nurse asked casually. Bakura waltzed over to his bed, which was right next to Ryou's, and plopped down on it. "What, I can't be up here just 'cause I can?"

Ryou stared at him. "No, it's just very out of character for you. You hate it up here. You've told us a million times that you'd rather be hidden underground rather than some fancy attic."

"Alright, you caught me. I decided to come up here so that I could help the Pharaoh get the new kid up here. Y'know, cause you're really not that strong and stuffs." Bakura explained, waving his hand as if it wasn't that important.

Ryou continued to stare at him, as if looking for more to it.

"And…" Bakura sighed, knowing that he'd have to tell the truth unless he wanted to be stared at to death. Not that he minded Ryou watching him or anything; he loved those soft brown eyes. "And I wanted to come up here because you're up here."

Ryou blushed vividly and turned to look the other way. Bakura smirked at the reaction.

They waited. And waited.

Bakura sneezed.

"Bless you." Ryou informed automatically.

Bakura's eye twitched at the statement.

And waited...

It wasn't till thirty minutes later that their waiting paid off (though it seemed longer.)

The trapdoor flung open, causing both to jump, though Bakura would never admit it. Yami's head poked through, looked around, and caught site of Bakura. Silent words were spoken. The fluffy white-haired boy got off his rump and helped Yami get the noob up into the attic.

"Looks too much like you for my taste." He noted as he compared hair styles.

Ryou rushed over as they set Yugi on the bottom bunk. "How is he Yami?"

Yami looked up, panting slightly from having run so far. He had a great deal more trouble dodging the search cars more than expected, and had to take the long way to get there. "I don't know. He bled too easily, so you might want to check that. Also, he seems to be a bit too thin. You don't think that woman was starving him?"

Ryou bit his lip as he got to work, doing the thing he was trained for. Bakura sat back and watched, arms crossed and leaning against the wall next to the bunk beds.

"So, Yami. Did you pick yet?" he looked up at the Pharaoh, who had climbed up onto the top bunk, exhausted.

Yami looked down at him, eyes half closed. "I believe so."

"Oh? Tell us what it is already!"

Yami smirked as he told them. Ryou thought it was cool. Bakura thought it was a type of seasoning. When Malik and Marik came up, Malik declared it was a title of a song while Marik thought it was a type of disease. Regardless, after much debate, they decided to stay with it.

Ryou finished treating him to the best of his ability. He sat back and sighed, looking up at Yami. "You'll be gone tomorrow, won't you?" Yami nodded, his eyes heavy.

"Yeah, Ryou. I've got something I've got to do tomorrow. I'll leave you and Joey in charge of him. Is that understood?" he semi-glared at the other three, all of whom were getting ready for bed.

"Yeah yeah, it means we can't mess with the noob…too much." Marik sneered up at him, a malicious look in his eye. Malik elbowed him. "Don't worry Yami, I'll keep this one in line."

Yami nodded at Malik, and then turned to look at Bakura.

"What, don't look at me! I've got a full day ahead of me tomorrow; no time to be plotting evil against him just yet." The thief informed.

"Where is Joey, anyway?" Malik asked, looking up at Yami as he pulled off his socks.

"I talked to him briefly when I came in. He made sure everything was alright before running off to spend the night at his sister's." Yami replied.

"He might get caught if he keeps doing that." Marik hissed. "Might get us all caught…"

"I trust him." Yami informed sternly, his tone of voice alone enough to end the conversation.

Ryou took that moment to turn off the lights.

Yami rolled over, his eyes having adjusted more quickly to the darkness than the others. He could just make out the outline of the boy one bunk below. _'Good Luck. You'll need it.' _He thought inwardly before rolling over once more, this time into a much needed sleep.

* * *

**Have you grown to fear my inevitable line breaks yet? -.o**


	7. Life After Yugi

**HELLO! I was debating on who would say the discalimer today. Miyo is busy doing my laundry, so it's either Ryou or Joey. **

**Ryou: Make Joey do it. He needs to be punished!**

**Joey: And you hitting me wasn't enough?**

**Ryou: -glares-**

**Joey: FINE! Sesco owns NOTHIN' but the plot, Miyoko, Kyla, Helena, and...oh wait, that's it, right? Yu-Gi-Oh! Belongs to Kazuki Takahashi!**

**Ryou: *nodding* And Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.**

**Sesco: What's that got to do with anything? o_0**

**Joey: Heh heh...**

* * *

….

…

…..

…ow….

Why was he in so much pain? Why did his head feel like it was throbbing? And…why did it smell like strawberry pancakes?

Crystal amethyst gems opened to be seen by the world. His vision was blurred at first, but he could make out a figure. And the figure….seemed to be too close. It was…..it was…right…..in….his…..face….

"GAH!" He jumped back to give himself some personal space as the figure, a boy, started to howl with laughter.

"That's not funny!" he yelled in indignation, an embarrassed flush creeping over his cheeks. The boy stopped laughing after making a gesture as if to wipe tears out of his eyes.

"Sorry about that Heba, but you know me, I can't help it."

He paused to look the boy over. He was tall, perhaps as tall as Tristan. He had a mop of messy blonde hair, and his eyes were drops of golden honey. He wore normal looking clothes; a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt with a green jacket. Only after making his observation did he realize what the boy had called him.

"Heba?"

"Well there, can't you even recognize your own name?"

He shook his head, looking even more confused. "My name is Yugi Mutou."

The boy looked stupefied. "Come on Heba, don't joke like that! You know your bestest friend can't handle jokes like that!"

Yugi shook his head, frowning. This seemed to hurt the boy's feelings.

"Come on, don't you even remember me? Joey Wheeler? We met in kindergarten, been best buds ever since? Do you have the amnesia disease?" The boy, Joey, put a hand on his forehead. "You seem ok to me. What, did you have a vivid dream or something and forget that it wasn't real life or somethin'?"

Yugi gave Joey a face that clearly said he was questioning the taller boy's sanity. "Ok, if I've been dreaming, explain to me how I got all beat up?" Yugi replied after looking over himself. He had the same bruises, a few cuts that stung, and, of course, the cast on his right arm.

"Oh yeah…sorry about that." Joey apologized sheepishly, one arm scratching the back of his neck. "I kinda pushed you into the middle of a four lane. Which is why you're pretty much…..yeah….but don't worry, the doctors said that you would be just fine. Though…if you have the amnesia, I'mma goin' ta beat the tar outta them for lyin' to me!" He made a fist and punched it into his other hand's palm.

Yugi stared, a trickle of fear running through his spine. Had…had he really? Did he seriously just wake up from a bad dream? But….what the heck was going on here? He closed his eyes in frustration, and mentally wished the pounding in his head would stop.

"Joey, can you help me up? Bakura and Marik stole the step ladder and won't give it to me!" a voice called from...somewhere.

"Sure thing!"

Yugi opened his eyes to see Joey turn to look at a square hole in the floor. It took a moment for Yugi to realize it was a trap door. While Joey bent down next to it to apparently help whoever it was on the other side to get in, Yugi took the time to fully understand where he was.

The room he was in was…odd. He appeared to be on the bottom bed of a bunk bed and on the walls on either side of him where two beds each. The wall around each of these beds where decorated with what looked like pictures, notes, and perhaps even newspaper clippings. Yugi turned to see the wall behind him, and found that a bunch of photos of Joey and some other people were staring back. He then spotted old newspaper clippings taped in the middle of all the pictures. He shifted to get into a position where he could read some of them.

**_DISASTER STRIKES THE KATSUYA HOUSEHOLD_**

**"_Last Tuesday, December 27__th__, there were reports of a break in on the Katsuya home. We were met with what appeared to be an abduction of one of the two children that where there. "I don't know why they would want to take my precious little boy away!" sobbed a horror struck Ms. Tsuruka Katsuya. She explained to reporters that her son, twelve year old Jonouchi Katsuya, had come to visit her and his sister, Shizuka Katsuya, for the holiday season. Only one day after a major holiday, he goes missing, leaving behind a messy room and loads of blood. "We think he might be dying! Stop talking to me and go look for my big brother!" yelled a hysterical eleven year old Shizuka. Jonouchi is said to be 4"1', has messy blond hair and golden brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a pair of red footy pajamas. If you have any information concerning his whereabouts, please dial"_**

But the rest of that article was torn off. To the side of it was a black and white picture of a laughing boy opening presents. He was smiling happily at the camera, and Yugi could help but feel that the boy looked familiar.

"Yeah, wasn't I just the cutest, Heba?"

Yugi jerked around to see that Joey and his friend had been watching him read the article. "You said your name was Joey Wheeler." He frowned at him. Joey really did look like an older Jonouchi though.

"So you've finally woken up Heba. Please, come and have a bite to eat, you look absolutely starved."

Yugi turned his attention to the friend for the first time, his eyes widening. "You! I know you!" he pointed over dramatically at the white haired boy. "You're Ryou, my sister's nurse!" he then tilted his head, confused. "You know my name, why did you call me Heba?"

Ryou smiled calmly. "It's simple, really. Yugi Mutou is dead. It says so here in today's paper."

It was only then that Yugi realized what the nurse was holding up to show him. Plastered on the front page was a picture of himself and an article labeled "DEATH STRIKES TRICE ON THE MUTOU FAMILY"

"Says that even though the police never found you're body, they're pronouncing you dead because of all the blood there was at the scene of the crime. There's still a hotline open for those who might have information on you, but luckily Seto's covering our tracks." The nurse explained while Yugi's eyes scanned the article, not able to read a single word and make sense of it.

After a few minutes, he looked up, something clicking in his head. "So…I'm dead…" he muttered.

"Technically, we all are." Joey smiled happily as if being dead was the best thing in the world.

Ryou sighed. "Yes, yes, we are all dead." He then offered Yugi a smile. "If you eat, I'll do some explaining?"

Yugi took the bait. It wasn't like he had much choice, anyway.

So after he had maneuvered over to the table and a plate of strawberry pancakes was laid out in front of him, Ryou and Joey sat down across from him.

"Man, that smells good! Did Mai make that herself?" Joey asked, taking in a good whiff.

"I do believe so. Down boy, those aren't yours!" Ryou smacked the back of Joey's head as the other had tried taking one of the strawberries.

Yugi smiled a bit at the two before digging in, his ears still open to hear their explaining.

"Well now." Ryou said as he straightened himself up, preparing for a long talk. "First thing you should know is that now, your name is Heba Cairo. Everyone who dies has to get a new name, you see, and it's always better if you don't choose yourself."

"That way none of your family or friends can recognize your new name. Like say, my favorite cartoon show is Danny Phantom or something. If I changed my name to Danny Fenton, I'm sure I'd be found out in a heartbeat." Joey chuckled.

"You watched that?" Ryou asked him with a sideways glance.

Joey blushed. "Ages ago before I died...only because my sister liked it."

"Ok. So my name is Heba. That explains why you two kept calling me that." Yugi mumbled between bites. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was until he had started eating.

"Yes. Now you might wonder why you were picked to die. Well… we were informed that you might commit suicide." Ryou paused, looking beseechingly into Yugi's eyes. "I was hoping with all my might that your sister was wrong about you."

Yugi nearly choked on his food. "Miyoko!"

"Yeah, Miyo said that if ever she should die, you would probably make yourself follow. Because of that, we've been keeping an eye on you ever since she….you know…" Joey informed, twisting her words a little bit so they sounded somewhat better.

Yugi would have stopped eating in order to demand what Joey knew of his sister, but his stomach protested against that idea.

"Yes, Miyoko…" Ryou smiled, both fondly and sadly. "She told us that should you attempt, she wanted us to kill you. That way, you can try again without the troubles or worries you had before."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, pausing with the fork in the air.

Ryou leaned back in his chair. "Think about it Heba. Yugi's dead. You're a new person. You're free now. Well, I'd prefer it if you stayed with us until the initial shock of you dying calms down in the public's eye, but otherwise…from now on, who you are and what you do is life after Yugi."

He had to let the words sink in to fully appreciate them. No more abusive mother. No more hateful sister. No more of what used to be.

Joey and Ryou exchanged a quick glance, both having noticed that some light entered Yugi's eyes.

But…wait a minute….Yugi turned to look at Joey. "If this is true, then why did you say that I've known you since kindergarten and that you pushed me into a four lane?"

"YOU TOLD HIM WHAT!" Ryou yelled at Joey. Before the poor blonde could do anything, he had been knocked to the floor by a very impressive left hook.

Joey moaned on the floor as he rubbed his jaw. "Are you really supposed to use that on the head area?" he whined.

Ryou crossed his arms, furious. "As long as I get my point across, I don't think that matters. How many times do I have to tell you to stop messing with the newcomer's heads! First you freak Duke out by telling him he's been kidnapped and sent to a place called New Jeryorleans, then you tell Tea she's been abducted by aliens and turned into a cyborg, and now this! Admittedly it is more tame of a story, but still!"

Yugi couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the two. Though even that was halted when his innards rumbled, demanding more food.

~~~~~~nom nom nom~~~~~~

After finishing his food and Ryou and Joey had finished bickering, they decided to give Yugi a farther run down of his current status.

"We are at a place called Haven Café." Ryou informed.

"The only way to start and end your day!" Joey chimed in a sing-song voice. "Though all of us dead people normally call it Death's Haven."

"Honestly Joey." Ryou sighed, shaking his head. "Anyways, the café is owned by Mai Valentine. Without her, I doubt any of this would be possible. She's probably the most daring woman I've ever met."

"Why?" Yugi asked, wanting to know more.

"Why? Heba, she hides us here! She gives us all a place to live until we get back up on our feet. She even gives us jobs and pays us for it! Why, if it wasn't for her, I don't think any of this would exist." Ryou looked around the room with fondness in his eyes.

"Every one of her employers are dead people." Joey smiled, finding the statement amusing. "I work counter duty and Ryou and Malik are waiters. Tea is our new show entertainment. She dance's great, but her singing could use some work. I think Mai's helping her with that-"

"Wait a minute, did you say Malik?" Yugi interrupted.

Joey nodded. "Yeah. Why, you know him?"

Yugi tilted his head. "Tan? Platinum blonde hair? Lavender eyes?"

"Yes, Malik's the one who delivered Miyo's letter to you." Ryou replied. "He's not doing too good."

"What's wrong with him?" Yugi asked, remembering how he had thought of Malik as a friend.

"Well…he's a bit overprotective, so when we found out Miyo suspected her own death; we decided not to tell him. He didn't know what he was delivering, and now he's blaming himself." Ryou sighed.

"Blaming himself?" Yugi muttered under his breath. He then remembered what Malik had told him before.

_Malik smiled. "Yeah. She told me to give this to you, but she also said you can't open it until Monday, for some odd reason. She said this had to be delivered today at all costs, but still, you can't open it…she's funny, isn't she?" he chuckled._

_Yugi took the letter and stared at it. It was for surely Miyoko's handwriting that labeled the letter-_

_"To My Beloved Adorable Angel-Faced Baby Brother. She really loves you, huh." Malik smirked at the embarrassed blush spreading on Yugi's cheeks. "Hey, nothing to get all flustered up about. It's nice to __have__ a sister who cares that much for you."_

_Yugi smiled slightly, knowing it was true, no matter how badly she might embarrass him. _

He then vaguely remembered what he had said at the funeral.

_"I'm so sorry Yugi, I didn't know! I fucking jinxed you, I'm so sorry!"_

"Yeah. I don't know why he's blaming himself though…there was nothing he could have done." Joey muttered.

Yugi looked down at the floor, lost in thought for a moment before looking up at the two again.

"So Joey, you used to be Jonouchi. Ryou, who did you used to be?" he ask curiously.

Ryou's face turned expressionless. "Well…my name is my name. I was always Ryou Bakura. You see…my family was taking off on vacation. It was raining that night and visibility was low. I still don't know how we ended up in that river…" he shuddered, and Joey patted him on the back. Ryou looked up at the ceiling, his eyes glazed over. "I remember seeing my mom's vacant stare; I think she must've been killed on impact 'cause her seat belt failed and unbuckled itself. My dad's too. He had bashed his head in somehow. I remember water spilling in from everywhere and my younger sister screaming."

Yugi was regretting he asked.

"But that's when Yami came. Somehow he saw us wreck and came to see if we were alright. He managed to save us and bring us back here." He smiled, slowly returning to his regular self. "Amane and I saw our deaths reported in the newspaper. The police found the car and the broken windows so they decided that our bodies must have been washed downstream. Either that or we managed to escape the car and still drowned." He gave a light laugh.

"I thought you had to change your name when…you know…died." Yugi reminded.

"Yeah. But since we don't have any other living relatives besides ourselves or any close friends, it was safe for us to keep our original names."

"Oh. So…where's your sister, then?" Yugi asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Amane? She lives in the next town over and works in a game shop." Ryou smiled at the thought of his sister.

Yugi couldn't help but smile too.

"Yeah, Yami helped me out a bunch too. We met the first day I was visiting my sister, and I told him about how my drunken dad and stuck-up mom treated me. He asked me if I wanted out, and I took up the offer. Shizuka wasn't too happy about it since I didn't tell her about the plan until after the effects." Joey chuckled, earning a face palm from Ryou.

Yugi blinked. Yami? He had been in Ryou's story too. "Who's Yami?"

Ryou and Joey looked at him. "Yami…is the guy that killed us. He killed you, too…" Ryou replied seriously.

Yugi remembered a pair of blood red eyes.

"Yami is the Pharaoh to us all. He's been dead longer than any of us. He's like the leader around here. Even Mai respects him." Joey informed.

Yugi opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a loud crash from below.

"Oh shit!" Joey cursed as he dived for the trap door. "Don't tell me-!"

Ryou looked alarmed. "Joey, what's going on?"

"Ryou, stay here with Heba; I'm going in." Joey informed before leaping through the hole out of sight.

The male nurse looked worried. 'Not today, any day but today!' He rushed over and jumped through the trap door after Joey, completely ignoring the blonde's words. More loud noises came from downstairs, including a shout which he recognized to be Joey's.

'What's going on?' Yugi wondered, peering through the hole in the floor. Below he could see an empty red-carpeted hallway. After a few seconds hesitation, he also threw himself through the trap door.

* * *

**AND here I need your help! I need a name for Malik that isn't...well, Kilam. Kilam sounds like 'Kill em' and it just isn't right. (Marik's is going to be Steve, lulz)**

**Malik: Stop talking about me like I'm not here! And don't I get a say in this! **

**Sesco: No!**

**Marik: I am not one of my own mind slaves!**

**Sesco: I love you abridged series! *purrs***

**Malik and Marik: -backs away slowly-**


	8. Small Talk

**Sorry it took so long. My computer caught a virus and I didn't want to type anymore and save it on someone else's computer and risk my parental units finding it. I'm pretty sure they would not approave of yaoi, heh heh. My computer is still infected, but now I have a flashdrive I can keep with me to effectively hide my files.**

**Other than that, I've been traveling a bit too. Oh, and I bought all seven books of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga (aka season 0). And I read them all, and highly suggest them to anyone who hasn't already read them. I have a new found respect for Joey ^^ not that I didn't like him before, but the whole thing with the knife was AWESOME. I might try to find a way to include that in this story somewhere...**

**Oh, and one more thing. NEVER. EVER. Let your mother near the manga section. I don't think I would have minded as much if there hadn't been another fanatic my age in the same isle. Kinda makes me glad I'm single. **

**Miyo: Sesco owns NOTHING! Cept me, Kyla, and Helena. **

**Sesco: Nothing much happens in this chapter action wise, but it is full of rather useful information.**

* * *

He fell with a thud on his bottom, the distance having been farther than he previously thought. He looked back up, only to find that the hole he had just fallen through was rather hard to find. The ceiling of this hallway was the same as the one above; wooden. But how could that be? The other roof was farther up, the boards should be smaller, not the same as the ones here. Unless…unless they were bigger and positioned just as so that they looked like part of the hallway from this perspective.

'Whoever thought that up must be an architectural genius.' He had enough time to think before another yell sounded from somewhere in front of him. He looked down to the end of the hallway to see large wooden twin doors, almost like the kind you find at fancy hotels.

Yugi walked to them, the closer he got, the louder the shouting on the other side got. He could even hear what was being said, now.

"What do you mean Bakura ran out! And you sent Marik to go after him, Tea! You know that this is Yami's day off, who the hell is going to cook the food now!" came a panicked voice of a woman.

"I-I'm sorry! But I didn't send him, he sort of volunteered and left." replied a distressed voice of a girl. This must have been Tea.

"Just because I took over counter duty doesn't mean I can't handle a few orders until they get back." came the voice of an obviously disgruntled Joey.

"That is true, I suppose. I can do the counter duty and have Malik and Tea be waiters. Ryou, I need you to go out and look for them. Please? I know this is also your day off." The woman sighed.

"O-of course! I don't mind helping out when I can. After all, I'm not needed at the hospital for another week." Ryou's voice seemed to fade at the end of the sentence, and Yugi realized why. As Ryou had been his sister's personal nurse, the hospital probably felt it best to give him time off to recuperate from the loss.

Yugi took a deep breath before pushing through the doors. He found himself in a large kitchen. The group of people he had been listening to, which consisted of Ryou, Joey, a young girl (but still taller than he was) he supposed must be Tea, and a woman he didn't know, had noticed his entrance.

"Heba, I told you to stay put!" Joey face palmed.

"Uh, no you didn't." Yugi frowned, crossing his arms as well as one with a cast on their right arm could. "You told Ryou to stay with me, and since he left, I figured I'd follow."

Ryou blushed in embarrassment as Joey turned on him. "Heh heh…"

"So you're Heba Cairo."

Yugi looked up to see the tall blonde woman with bright silvery brown eyes, though in this dazzling lighting of the kitchen, her eyes seemed to reflect a purplish shade. "I'm Mai Valentine." She introduced, smiling and showing off perfectly white teeth.

"N-nice to meet you." Yugi tried to smile back, a bit intimidated by the differences in height.

"Now then. Ryou, you really need to get going." Mai informed as she turned back to face him.

"Yes, of course Mai." He turned and started to walk away from the group. Yugi hesitated, but decided to catch up with him.

"Ryou, can I come too? Maybe I can help?" he offered as Ryou pushed open a door in the back of the kitchen.

Ryou paused, seemingly considering it. "Well…I'm not fond of the thought of you being out so soon after your death…" he admitted. "On the other hand, I'm not too fond of going out alone either. Still though, I think you should stay here. Maybe you can help Joey cook?" he offered a kind smile.

Yugi shifted his feet a little. Truth be told, he trusted Ryou more than anyone else here, mainly that being because he knew Ryou. However, he could see the logic in the male nurse's words. It would be bad if he was caught after he supposedly died. He nodded, but frowned. "It's just…I'm crap at cooking."

Ryou gave a light chuckle. "You could always keep him company. He hates being alone."

"Oh…ok." Yugi replied, defeated.

Ryou patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Heba. I'll be back before you know it. Tell you what." He smiled, his soft brown eyes sparkling slightly. "I'll play against you when I get back. I happen to play Duel Monster's too."

Yugi blinked. "That sounds fun, but…I…I don't have my deck." He felt a pang at the realization.

"Don't you? Did you check your pockets?"

Yugi looked down at the jacket he was wearing. He carefully put his hands into his pockets, and was shocked when he pulled out two decks; his and his sister's. "But how…?" he asked, looking up only to find the Ryou had slipped out the door.

He turned, putting the playing cards back into his pockets. He felt confused, but also a bit better since he discovered the decks. 'Well, I guess I'd better give Joey some company then.' He thought and walked back to the main part of the kitchen.

~...~

It didn't take long to stir up a conversation with the blue-apron wearing Joey. The blonde might have been busy frying hamburgers and boiling hot dogs, but he somehow was able to do all this with ease while still talking to him.

"So yeah, the café' does have a bar in it, but we kinda have to. If we didn't we'd lose a lot of our older customers." Joey informed. "We have like, an old west set up. Even got a stage for entertainment. Actually, it's not been used much in the last few years except by Malik and occasionally Tea. Malik, bless him, is supposed to be our waiter, but he's under the impression that he has the voice of an angel."

"Does he?" Yugi asked, finding it interesting to hear Joey talk about life around here.

_"Hell no!" _Joey laughed as he flipped a burger.

"I resent that exclamation."

Yugi looked up to see Malik's face peering through a small but log horizontal window. "Malik!" he greeted, remembering the unamused waiter.

Malik turned to him, and smiled slightly, though pain was evident in his eyes. "O-oh! Hi there, Yug-" he cut himself off and shook his head. "Heba."

Before Yugi could say anything else, Malik turned his attention to Joey and put a slip of paper on the window sill. "Another order of hot dogs, Joey." He informed before disappearing.

Joey sighed as he put got the order ready. "Told ya' he wasn't doing so good."

Yugi continued to stare at the now vacant window. Now that he noticed it was there, he could also hear the sounds of voices of many people on the other side. He shook his head before turning his attention back to Joey.

"Why is he blaming himself?" he asked, almost too quietly for Joey to hear.

Joey got a plate and put some of the cooked food on it and set it up on the window. "Well, we call him Tomb Keeper for a reason."

"_Tomb Keeper_?"

"Yeah. Oh wait, you don't know." Joey looked like he was about to smack himself, but thought better of it. "At Death's Haven, well, you can kinda guess that we're a secretive bunch. We decided to come up with an elaborate system of coding we can use in case of danger. Malik is Tomb Keeper because he holds death personaly. He often visits the graveyard where his sister is buried."

"What are the others?" Yugi asked, curious.

"Hrmm, well, we already told you that Yami is Pharaoh. Ryou, he's the Nurse Lady. It was great for a while because he utterly loathed it, but he eventually got used to it. Pity, I miss that look on his face every time we said it. Bakura is the Thief King. He steals about everything. Hell, he even stole Ryou's last name." Joey took a moment to chuckle as he filled out another order. "Let's see…Marik, he's Demon. He's an ok guy if he likes you, but if you get on the receiving side of his temper-" he shuddered.

"That bad?" Yugi asked, wondering if Marik's temper was anything like his mother's.

"Worse. I remember this one time when a gang started picking on Malik. Tomb Keeper would come back almost every night bruised up. Marik likes Malik, you see, and they do look alike. Well, somewhat. Granted, their personalities are different as well as their hair length and other stuff, but there is no denying a resmiblance. Well that night, it was Marik walking home instead of Malik, and the gang couldn't tell the difference."

Joey stopped for a moment in order to check on his food. It would be no good if it was burnt.

"Well…I don't know the details, and I'm glad I don't. All I really know is that Marik came back covered in blood that night, and we've _never_ seen anyone that belonged to that gang since."

The two of them remained quiet while Yugi let this new piece of information sink in. After about ten minutes, Joey glanced back to where Yugi was sitting on an upturned bucket. "Don't let this make you afraid of him though. Marik's nice, really. Sorta quiet but mischievous, and very willing to do whatever it takes to protect his friends. But…" he paused for a moment, thinking. "You might was to keep your distance for a while. He's not friendly toward the newly departed. He almost decapitated Tea when she first came."

Yugi looked up, fear in his eyes. "_D-decapitated!"_

"It was on accident, we think, but he didn't apologize for it. Anyways, he's always going on about how easily our secret can be found out. He doesn't trust newcomers thanks to the Rook and the Dice, and he's not too fond of me either because I still visit my sister."

"Rook and Dice?"

"Oh yeah…Rook was the guy that died after me. Thing is, Rook only needed help dying, he was perfectly able to fend for himself so he left a few weeks later when the search for his dead body calmed down. He bought a house on the other side of town, and he even goes to a public school close to his old one. Thing is, he used to have this really long hair, and now that he got it cut, no one can recognize him." Joey sighed.

"Marik has been with Yami the longest, you see. He's really protective to the point he can lose himself in it. He about slaughtered Dice when he was able to move on. We don't know where he went, but one day out of the blue, our old counter guy came in and told Mai he was quitting. He thanked her and Yami for all their help, packed what little possessions he had, and left. Well, tried to leave. Marik cornered him and they got into a huge fight that Yami had to break up."

"You can't really _blame_ me. The git didn't even give us a warning. Rook I can understand, he told us when he first came that he didn't plan on staying for long. But that bastard Duke didn't even tell us he was going to go until he went!" snapped a harsh voice from behind them that made both Yugi and Joey jump.

Yugi spun around to face what he first thought was a _very_ angry Malik. However, this boy's hair was longer and consisted of what appeared to be all natural spikes. His eyes were more of a dusky violet than Malik's deep lavender. Speaking of eyes, he had a crazed look in them. "What are you staring at! Find me sexy, do you!" he snapped again, causing Yugi to wince.

"Now now Marik, don't go stroking your ego in front of the Rookie." Joey rolled his eyes, throwing an apron to Marik.

Marik caught it gracefully with one hand. "What, are you the knight in shining armor? Come to save the Rookie from the big bad Demon?" he smirked throwing the loop of the apron over his head and somehow managing to get it over his massive hair before tying it in the back.

"I'm called the Knight for a reason, you foul demented beast." Joey chuckled, elbowing Marik when he got close enough.

Marik smirked and started helping Joey with the cooking. "I couldn't find the thief anywhere. I even look in all of his hideouts. I bet he's pulling off a heist somewhere." He informed.

Joey paused. "You didn't happen to run into Ryou, did you? Mai sent him out to look for Bakura too."

Marik looked up from pouring more cold hot dogs into the boiler. "No, I didn't see Nurse Lady anywhere." He replied, looking startled. He didn't seem at all as scary as he had been before. Maybe it was because he momentarily forgot Yugi was there, sitting on an upturned bucket behind them, or maybe it was the girly pink apron he had tied onto himself in a manly manner.

'Must be the apron.' Yugi decided as he remained silent and listened to the two of them talk…though he still wasn't sure if he liked to be called _the Rookie._

Joey looked worried, but Marik shrugged. "I'm sure he'll come back soon."

Joey seemed uneasy, but nodded. The conversation turned more toward the café and other things Yugi couldn't follow.

And they stayed like this for hours, Joey and Marik talking while Yugi sat on his bucket attempting to understand what they were talking about.

But Ryou still wasn't back.

More hours passed, and it was around nine thirty (according to the clock on a nearby microwave oven) when anything remotely interesting happened. And the remotely interesting thing came in the form of Ryou storming into the kitchen wearing a prideful smirk and a holding a black bag over his shoulder.

It was only when he got closer that Yugi realized that his hair seemed…fluffier. And it was only when the black bag fell in front of Yugi and only when the boy spoke that he realized it wasn't Ryou.

"Got you a present, Rookie." He smiled, showing a off his rather pointy-looking teeth.

"Wha?" Yugi gaped up at him.

"Bakura!" Joey scolded him, whacking him over the head with a spatula. "Where have you been? Marik and Ryou both went out looking for you!"

Bakura blinked, looking between the two cooks, his brow furrowing. "Where's Ryou now?"

Marik shrugged and Joey shook his head.

"So you mean to tell me…" Bakura started to bristle, almost like a human porcupine. "…That Ryou…Is. Not. Here?"

Yugi gulped. It appeared that Marik might not be the only one with a terrible temper.

* * *

**Just so everyone knows, I don't own Rook. If you've read the manga of season 0, you can probably guess who it is, -evil laugh goes here-. Oh...and thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or favorited this story. You have no idea how much that means to me. ^u^**

**Bakura: Bring back Ryou now! Now I say!**

**Sesco: -runs off like a maniac-**


	9. First Confessions

**What's this? An update? AM I DREAMING!**

**No, no you're not! This chapter is dedicated to my awesome friend Fufu! Without her inspiration, I don't think this chapter could have happened. Well, it would have happened eventually, but it would have taken longer. My problem was an anti-writers block, meaning I couldn't decied what to do next because I had so many options to choose from. **

**After talking with Fufu, I got cleared up. :D And she also just now drew me this smexy picture of Haou (aka evil Jaden/Judai from Yu-Gi-Oh GX for those who do not know) . I'm still sqeeing inside my brain. **

**So, without further wait, here's what happened to Ryou! ^-^**

* * *

This was bad. If he continued this up, he'd never make it back home. Screw Bakura, he could take care of himself out here in this dog-eat-dog part of the city. If you could call this part of the city. Honestly, he had no idea where the hell he was.

His ear twitched. He heard it again; the sound of footsteps stalking him.

And that was why Ryou had yet to return back to Death's Haven. He couldn't return there if he was being watched. So instead, he had been wondering around pretending to be lost. When it got dark, he didn't have to pretend anymore. More troublesome was the fact that the night creepers were starting to come out, and no, he didn't mean the cute little crickets.

A man leaning up against the wall on the opposite side of the street with an electric blue mohawk eyed him hungrily as he took a long drink of whatever was in the black bottle he clutched tightly in his calloused hands.

Ryou shuddered in disgust and quickened his pace. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and glanced at it. Thank whatever higher power there was above that he had brought it with him. Now, at least, he had a reason to be lost. Should the person stalking him catch him, he would simply tell them he was looking for Number 18, Fufu Street. He knew that this street was located around here somewhere…probably.

"Hey girly!"

Crap. Now his torment begins. The man with the mohawk had crossed the street toward him. Ryou stuffed the paper back into his pocket before crossing his arms and turning toward him. He had learned that simply ignoring them egged them on.

"Excuse me, but I'm male." He replied in his manliest voice ever…which wasn't saying much. The man didn't hesitate in his step at all.

"Sure don't look it, missy." He replied in an obviously drunken voice.

Ryou held his ground, his fists tightening. "Please stay back, sir." Of course. He was still being polite. Sometimes he hated his own habit.

"I dun wanna, pretty." The drunken man was now standing right in front of him, so close that Ryou's vision of the rest of the street became non-existent. "I wanna know, is all of you so pretty?" The drunkard reached out a hand to grab onto Ryou's hair.

WHAM.

The drunkard now knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of one of Ryou's infamous left hooks. He staggard back, his bottle of what appeared to be vodka slipping from his grasp and shattering on the ground, sending both shards of glass and liquid everywhere. It took the man a moment to realize just what happened, and that moment was all the Ryou needed. By the time the man figured out what happened, Ryou was no where in sight, leaving the man in his drunken rage by his lonesome.

* * *

"Ugh, what a day."

He yawned, stretching his arms and dropping his bag to the floor after closing the door behind him. "I really need to find another job, this one's going to send me to an early grave." He then paused to laugh at the irony of his words.

He lived alone in a small two-story house that was in need of repair. It may have been shabby, but still, it was the best looking house on the street. He walked out of the mudroom to meet the living room, and plopped down his new couch, yawning again. "I really do need a new job…and I also should kick the habit of talking to myself while I'm at it...nah." Talking to himself had become normal, since he lived alone and he never got any visitors, even though he had given his address to all of his friends. He guessed that they were still mad at him for leaving.

Just as he was about to doze off, he heard a rather rapid knocking at his door. Groaning irritably and glancing at the clock on the wall, he growled to himself. "Who the hell knocks at one in the morning!" he jumped up, anger boiling. He marching back into the mudroom and slammed the door open.

"I swear, If you've come here lookin' for a fight you've got one! I was sleeping you bast-"

"O-oh! S-sorry!"

He blinked, his deep green eyes widening. "N-Nurse Lady!" he beamed, his mood changing dramatically. "Sorry about that, I was expecting- You know, I don't live in the best of all, well, come in, please! How are you?"

Ryou chuckled softly, walking in. "Still remember me then, do you Dice?" he smiled, his eyes tired. "I'm fine, though I must admit I'm a bit lost. It was only by luck I found your place Duke. Bakura ran off, and I went to look for him, and…"he lowered his voice. "I was being stalked, Duke. I don't know who it was, and I couldn't go back to Haven being followed. Did you see anyone behind me at the door?"

Duke Devilin grimaced. "No, I didn't see anyone." He replied, his voice also hushed. He peaked out the door's window, staring out into the night. "Can't see a damn thing out there Ryou."

Ryou sighed. "Sorry to drop in on you like this, but…could I stay for the night? And perhaps you a phone to contact the Haven?"

Duke turned to Ryou, realizing just what shape his friend was in. His eyes were drooping, his hair a bit more fluffed out than normal, obviously from the stress of being followed. The bottom of his jean was splattered wet, and by the smell it was obviously some type of alcoholic drink. His posture was slumped, and his left knuckles…were they bleeding?

"Geez Nursey, what happened to you hand?" he asked, lifting Ryou's arm up so he could get a better look.

"Oh, that." Ryou chuckled. "Some drunk mistook me for an innocent girl."

Duke snorted. "Well, I've only got one bedroom. You can have it if you want; I normally bunk on the couch. And don't complain about the mess, I'm not used to having visitors. The phone is in the kitchen." He led Ryou into his home.

Ryou was too worn to truly look at his friend's house. From what he could tell, it looked like a normal house that held one occupant. The living room had a couch and coffee table, and a small TV mounted on the wall. Ryou walked through it into the kitchen, his eyes only awake enough to focus on finding the phone. He found it on the pale counter top, picked it up and dialed. It only rung once.

"Haven Café, how may I be a service to you today?" a voice chimed.

Ryou blinked. "Joey?"

"Nurse Lady! Is that you! Damn!" Joey's voice shouted something inadiable as an apparent fight broke out over the phone. In the end, there was no mistaking the voice who spoke next.

"Ryou, where the hell are you! Are you hurt! Do I need to kill a bitch!"

Ryou smiled. "Bakura, calm down, I'm fine. I got lost is all, but I found Dice's house. He's letting me stay the night."

There was a sigh of relief. "Ryou…"

They remained in quiet as silent words were spoken between them. Ryou smiled, content to listen to Bakura's breathing through the phone. But of course, all silences must be broken eventually.

"Shit. Ryou, I love you."

Ryou laughed, his heart fluttering as he heard the words for the first time.

"Fuck, Bakura, I love you too. I'll be back tomorrow." He replied, a blush lighting up his features as he hung up the phone. As soon as the receiver clicked, a low whitsle filled the air.

"Whoa, you and Bakura? Never saw that comin'." Duke smirked, his arms crossed.

Ryou only blushed deeper.

* * *

"Bakura, is there something wrong? You've been standing there for ten minuets man." Joey tilted his head. Bakura didn't answer. His form was frozen, his right hand still clutching the cordless phone to his ear, and his face was a striking beat red.

* * *

**Shorter than what I would have liked, but hey! I'm out of my writer's anti-block! :D**

**I hope you like this Fufu!**

**And thanks to everyone one who has reveiwed and faved my story! And that to all those lurkers who read stories but don't review or fav! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**~Secterscope**


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